Cheers
by hawktakesflight
Summary: A group of Smashers are trapped inside the Mansion after the teleporters fail. All seems fine - until one by one they start dropping dead. Suspicions rise, but all hope seems impossible. Complete, many thanks to those who R&Red. Ch 7: To Your Health
1. Pow

**Hello all.**

**Apologies to Shadow Blues for being a couple of months late!**

**Disclaimer, just to be sure. Rated for a reason – copious amount of character death and the like. I decided to add the roster of Smashers to the end of each chapter, rather than the beginning, or would you rather have it the other way around? The non-bolded ones are those which – well – won't be sleeping in their beds that night.**

**Of c****ourse, try to guess and spot the murderer! It's one of the Smashers within the Mansion at that time, so no odd plot devices (for example, Captain Falcon hiding in a corner with his Knee of Justice primed and ready). Let's see who gets it right!**

**Additional bonus: guess who dies next. The sequence's already set, ****the details imagined in disturbing detail, so yeah, rest assured I won't change the storyline for the sake of that, and I'm not taking any requests on who to kill, or not to kill next.**

**First death  
lupyne: **Lucario**  
Shadow Blues:** Luigi  
**Souldin: **Link

**This is a separate timeline from the **_**Days of Our Lives **_**arc, so no continuity here. I figure it's time for a change in scenery. ****Still, please do enjoy ****this! I hope you all will enjoy it, and always welcome your reviews (and also make a guess, interaction is always gladly appreciated!) and constructive criticism!**

**Additionally, about the project mentioned on my profile: I have the honour of collaborating with a great writer on FF, lupyne. We'll be writing a Pokemon fanfic _Smile _together, although I can't exactly put a date on when it'll be published. Meanwhile, I strongly recommend you check out lupyne's ongoing work _I Am Lucario_, and I'm sure you'll be blown away by what you find.**

**So without any further ado, I wish you all a very ****– cheery – day –**

**hawk**

**---**

Cheers

_Slash!_ The crowed oohed as the caped puffball struck a direct hit, the short sword gleaming in his gloved grasp. Snake tipped backwards, but recovered quickly enough to grab Meta Knight in a chokehold, the puffball struggling to break free. Eventually, the two broke apart, Snake immediately launching a Nikita missile towards the small Smasher, but Meta Knight was quicker, uppercutting Snake with a powerful hit from his sword Galaxia, launching Snake into the air.

With Meta Knight finally sending the mercenary careening off stage and off the arena boundaries, the entire crowd roared. Meta Knight stopped for a moment, quite exhausted, before bowing deeply to the crowd and sheathing his sword. Snake appeared next to him on the victory platform, gruffly extending his hand for the puffball to shake. Together, both combatants stood and faced the crowd, eliciting even more cheers and catcalls for them both.

"Impressive," murmured Snake. Meta Knight nodded. "You too," he added. As they stepped off the teleportation platform, returning back to the Smash Mansion, they were greeted by the rest of the Smashers, noisily and cheerfully celebrating. All had their share of the limelight as they excitedly talked about their matches and how agonizing close they had come to winning. And with that, the Smash Tournament drew to a close.

Master Hand and Crazy Hand greeted the Smashers on their way to the Great Hall, the two odd disembodied gloves lining the entrance like guards. Master Hand had thrown a feast in the light of the post-tournament celebration, inviting all the Smashers to participate and generally revel after a long run of arduous and difficult battles.

Crazy Hand threw stuff through walls.

As the banquet reigned on, the different Smashers mingled, knowing full well that it might be the last time they meet until the next Tournament. The adults chatted amongst themselves, holding up wine glasses and toasting each other – which did lead to some rather embarrassing instances.

"You looksh good," slurred Fox, tipping his glass drowsily, a silly grin plastered on his face. In front of him, Falco stood with a sandwich in his feathered hand, peering slightly concernedly at the intoxicated pilot. His teammate collapsed on his shoulder, chuckling inanely while leaning heavily; his tail flicking slowly from side to side. "You an' your twin brotherrr."

As the surrounding crowd laughed good-naturedly, Falco chuckled as he dragged the weakly-protesting fox away from the wine table. A quick trip to the nearby restroom and a splash of water later, and he'd have another great story to relay to the rest of the Great Fox crew.

At that thought, Falco grinned. Suddenly, heaving the heavy vulpine to the washroom became so much more worth it. "C'mon, you fleabag." Falco playfully shook his teammate's collar, the head violently ricocheting back and forth.

Fox hiccupped, slurred, then threw up on Falco's shoes.

---

Pikachu raised his head as some distant commotion reached him. His ears picked up someone yelling "Fox!" and something smashing, but otherwise nothing much out of the ordinary.

Perking up his ears, Pikachu stood up on tiptoe, stretching his height as far as he could manage. His short paws waved about in the air as he tried to keep his balance, but he couldn't see head or tail of his vulpine friend. Just a lot of people and various voices again.

Shrugging, the electric rodent turned back to more important issues at hand.

Concentrating, he furrowed his brow. This would require a lot of focus and mental strength. His hindpaws shifted, at the ready.

Pikachu was now perched at the very edge of one of the Hall's many high ledges. The architecture of the Hall allowed him to clamber up its many little protruding ledges, until he reached the very top ledge itself. From that, the Pokémon could almost feel a soft wind passing, ruffling his fur softly.

Ah, to be the tallest one of them all. Pikachu couldn't help but let a little smirk cross his playful face.

All of a sudden, he leaped through the air, like a bolt of lightning. Streaking through the air, he allowed gravity to take its course, accelerating him as he flung himself from the ledge. His paws reached out, the wind clawing through his fur and tail.

---

Link munched happily on a pastry, chatting unintelligibly with Zelda. They were enjoying themselves at this party, even with the large number of other Smashers present.

The Mario Brothers and Peach joined them in conversation, with Zelda acting as the translator for Link whenever he wanted to speak. True to herself, not long after, Princess Peach gushed about how cute Link looked together with Zelda, Zelda turning faintly pink and haltingly thanking the Mushroom Kingdom Princess.

Link paused his eating, not quite catching Peach's comment, but arched a brow questioningly at Zelda's reaction. In return, Zelda mouthed a few words in Hylian in his direction. _She thinks your hat is very chic. _Link grinned widely, raising his cap to Peach, elicting another round of giggles from her.

Turning her attention to the Mario brothers, Zelda politely spoke. "What do you plan to do when you get back to your Kingdom?"

Mario shrugged. "Set up a coin bank? I don't know… but I'm-a going to take-a good nap. No more a-Bowser for a while," he grinned, a faint smile across his face.

Luigi smiled good-naturedly, patting his brother on his back. "Me, I'm going to be a-little more productive," he grinned. "I'm-a getting Peach to teach me how to-a brew her famous tea," His eyes closed and his large nose sniffed the air. "Mama mia, I can smell-a it now!" Peach giggled and tried to shush Luigi, while Mario laughed and clapped his brother on the back.

Zelda was still talking to Peach when Link finished his pastry, but the Hylian hero fumbled with the last crumbs and immediately made a beeline for the table again. Zelda sighed humorously, then bid goodbye to Peach and hurried after him.

As Zelda caught up with him, so did Ganondorf. "Imp's stuffing his face again, eh, Princess?" he mocked, sneering Link, who by now had bits of food near his mouth. Link glared back at him, wiping his lips with the back of his hand and drawing his sword, even as his other picked up another delicious-looking pastry.

Zelda stepped in before a brawl could occur. "Why don't we just enjoy ourselves for once? We're at a party, after all…" Link swiveled his gaze onto her, and immediately relented. Shrugging, he sheathed his sword, while Ganondorf stepped back a step.

He felt a slight tugging sensation on his other hand, and lazily looked at it. Link's eyes widened almost immediately, with the knowledge that something somehow had gone horribly wrong.

His pastry was gone!

On the floor, looking up at him, Pikachu grinned, pastry in his paws where he had plucked it out of Link's grasp from his adventurous leap from the ledge. Biting into it with his mouth, he quickly scampered away on all fours, leaving the Hero of Time to yell and run after him, shouting something unintelligible in Hylian but probably translated to _Give it back, you rodent!_.

Zelda and Ganondorf stood there, mouths agape. For all the weird things that happened in the mansion, it was the first time they saw a Pokémon take a death-defying leap and expertly snatch out a piece of food from right under a Hylian's nose, and from in between his fingers.

"Did that just happen?" Zelda blinked once or twice.

Ganondorf suddenly let out a guffaw. "I've got to learn that trick from that rat."

---

Nevertheless, as with all Tournaments, this one had to eventually end, for good. Slowly, the Smashers as a whole filed into the teleportation room, each setting the dials for their respective universes. Close friends promised to visit each other soon, whereas acquaintances exchanged polite words but heartily agreed to spar each other when the next tournament rolled around. Unwilling to leave, the Smashers formed little groups where they continued to talk and chat and make plans, and eventually, leave.

Lucario stood at the back of the teleportation room, pressed against the wall. Not really enjoying crowds, nor really have anyone to go with, he had decided to simply wait till everyone else was gone. The Pokémon Trainer and Jigglypuff had since disappeared through the portals, but Pikachu was nowhere to be seen. He contended himself with watching people step up to the teleportation platforms, wave to the rest, then seemingly disappear into thin air.

He wasn't one for parties, although since Pikachu had urged him to come, he couldn't quite politely refuse. And anyway, at the party, he had managed to sample different sorts of foreign food – a change from his usual diet of Oran berries – and got to see Pikachu's remarkable jump-and-snatch tactic. He added that to his mental list of food-gathering techniques, and reminded himself to congratulate Pikachu.

_That Pikachu's gotten much stronger,_ he thought.

Suddenly, a voice drifted through the noise in the room, causing Lucario's ears to twitch. Turning around, he saw the head of Falco Lombardi poking out of a group of other Smashers, beckoning him to come. "Oi! Rukario! Come over here for a minute," the avian called, gesturing with one wing. Imperceptibly shrugging his shoulders, the Aura Pokémon walked over to where the avian pilot stood.

Fox was addressing the small group, Falco by his side. Pikachu was perched near his feet, while Link and Ganondorf stood at opposite ends of the circle. As Lucario stopped and stood behind Falco, Fox nodded once in greeting before continuing.

"… so, Falco thought we should meet up soon and organize some spars. You guys okay with that?" Pikachu happily exclaimed something, while Link nodded happily. Ganondorf, on the other hand, put a palm to his face and muttered something under his breath.

"… how do I get dragged into these things?"

As they were laughing at the King of Evil's exasperation, Lucario couldn't help but notice something didn't feel quite right. Before he could voice that out, there was a dull _boom_, the lights flickering and going out, the lights above the teleporters dimming down.

There was a short silence, before the remaining Smashers in the room starting to yell and scramble around. The mob was finally quelled when the two Star Fox pilots pulled light-emitting batons from their flight jackets and started waving them around like exasperated air traffic controllers, yelling for people to remain calm. Meanwhile, some Smashers had found the door, allowing light to flood into the now-dark teleportation room, the rest jostling to get out.

"What was that?" grumbled Ganondorf as he shoved Link forward, out of the door. At least grateful to be out of the room, the Hero of Time grunted and stepped aside to allow the rest of the Smashers to exit. In addition to the group he was in, the young Hylian noted that Peach and Luigi were also following them out. Apparently, they hadn't managed to get through before the power cut, although Mario did. Fox and Falco stumbled through next, still brandishing their light batons.

Pikachu, who was following the Mario brother and Peach, piped up. "Pii, pika! Pika –" As Pikachu was still speaking, Peach turned to Lucario, who was calmly following behind the entire mad procession. "Could you please tell us what he's talking about?"

Lucario hesitated for a moment, then bowed. _Certainly, Princess. _Scrutinizing Pikachu for a moment, Lucario responded. _He's suggesting that we go to the Smash Lounge, and ask the Hands to make reparations to the teleporters._

"An excellent idea," muttered Ganondorf, rounding the corner. As it so happens, at that exact moment, the giant figure of Crazy Hand did the exact same thing, colliding squarely with the King of Evil and sending the Gerudo spinning backwards for a good distance.

After they had carefully, slowly, and painfully explained the happenings at the teleporter room, and could Master Hand please do something about it, Crazy Hand nodded his fingers vigorously in what could possibly be interpreted as comprehension. Laughing in his eerie, high-pitched tone, the Hand quickly sped off and disappeared past another corner, presumably to find his right-handed, and more sane counterpart.

---

"Pi, pika pika, pikachu! Chu, Pikachu, chaa –" Pikachu was in the midst of retelling something epic to Fox and Falco, both sunken into beanbags on either side of the rodent Pokémon. Pikachu himself was happily telling his story, wildly waving his little paws and every once in a while jumping or having sparks fly from his cheeks to make his point.

After Crazy Hand had floated away, the Smashers had decided to spend the rest of their time in the Smash Lounge. The Lounge was a convenient, large room situated in the heart of the Mansion, with windows overlooking the Gardens, but had enough room to entertain the entire Brawl roster. Now that only a few remained, the Lounge clearly was more than enough.

Fox sat through this display, occasionally murmuring and nodding his head. "Oh. Oh. Really! You don't say…" Pikachu enthusiastically nodded in return, punctuating the end of his sentence with a high-energy "Pika!" Falco looked on, a small smile playing on his beak, head propped up between his wings, gazing from the Pokémon to his vulpine teammate and back again.

Once Pikachu had finished, he jumped onto Fox's open lap and nuzzled his cheek into Fox's flight jacket. The vulpine, in return, lightly ruffled the fur on Pikachu's head. Falco cocked his head, then leaned back in his seat, chuckling. "He likes ya," he commented amusedly. "Ya two make the cutest couple."

Fox abruptly stopped ruffling Pikachu's head and turned to stare directly at Falco. With a straight face, Fox confessed: "To be honest, I have no idea what he was talking about."

There was a short pause, Pikachu looking up to the Starfox pilot for a second or two. Then, the Pokémon playfully zapped the vulpine, Fox gawking and gagging in surprise, causing Falco to burst out in a chortle.

Lucario had allowed himself a small smile at the pilots' antics, but sat away from them, perched on a stool in the corner of the lounge. Fox noticed this, and hailed Lucario to come over. Pikachu peered from beyond Fox's shoulder, and catching sight of Lucario, immediately launched himself off Fox's lap (getting an _oof_ from the pilot), and hurried over to where Lucario was seated, raising his forepaws up, as a child would when asking to be picked up.

Obliging, Lucario got off his stool and knelt in front of the mouse Pokémon, ruffling the top of his head with a black-furred forepaw. Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder and started chattering into his ear, grasping onto Lucario's thin neck for support. Suddenly, Lucario grimaced, forcibly plucking the smaller Pokémon off his shoulders and holding him with both forepaws at arm's-length, scrutinizing him.

_You are heavier,_ chided Lucario, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. _Maybe you should not have stolen Link's share of food._ Pikachu squirmed in Lucario's grasp, weakly emitting a "Chaaa –" of protest, while the Star Fox pilots broke out into laughter.

---

After ten minutes in the Lounge and watching Fox, Falco and Pikachu entertain themselves, Ganondorf declared enough was enough, threw down the tome he was reading with a thud and stormed out of the Lounge. Link watched him go, shrugged, then turned back to Luigi and Peach, sipping the cup of tea Peach offered him. Luigi, on the other hand, downed his cup of tea and set it down in front of him, politely asking Peach for a refill.

Although what he said earlier to Pikachu was just a rare joke, Lucario did feel that he had lagged behind in terms of training, once he was ousted from the competition. Absentmindedly ruffling Pikachu's head, Lucario found more than once his thoughts drifting to his training regimen, especially when Pikachu had to resort to electric shocks to bring the Pokémon back to earth more than once.

"Hey, Rukario," Fox called.

Lucario stared into space, paw on Pikachu's head.

Pikachu sighed exasperatedly. A small electric current crackled through its body, running up Lucario's long forepaw, shocking him back to earth. Yelping softly underneath his breath, Lucario snatched away his paw.

_Yes?_ "You okay?" Falco chipped in. Lucario stretched slightly, then massaged the back of his head with the same paw. Unknown to him, the residual static electricity made half of his fur stand on end. He tried to smoothen it down, but all he did was to make it worse. Pikachu chuckled.

Lucario shrugged imperceptibly, nodding towards the pilots. _Yes… but I think I'll be going first. _

Politely excusing himself, Lucario left the group of Fox, Falco and Pikachu behind and exited the room, padding down the Mansion corridors until he reached the training rooms.

The rooms were a set of wooden affairs, decked out with nothing more than a Sandbag and some basic ledges for jumping practices. Altogether, they weren't very large rooms, but they suited his purpose. Still nursing a paw throbbing from Pikachu's multiple electric attacks, Lucario pushed open a wooden door.

_That kid has grown stronger,_ he thought. A small smile crept onto the edge of his jaw.

Pushing that thought aside for the moment, the jackal-shaped Pokémon stretched his limbs, then started up his training. Noting the numerous equipments in the room, he decided to give his Aura training a break, opting instead to build up his physical ability.

Most Lucario were unable to separate their Aura from their physical prowess, having it in-built into them as one of their species. However, through long months of practice, Lucario had successfully developed such a technique. It involved the conscious shutdown of his Aura-sensing abilities, if only to be more aware of his physical surroundings.

The fear that had crept into him as he begun slowly dwindled away. Fear of separation from the Aura was natural to his species, of course; but Lucario shoved the feeling aside, wringing his paws in preparation for the training session ahead.

In twenty minutes, he had worked up a sweat, almost a given since the room was extremely warm, plus he was keeping himself very agile. A paw here, and hindpaw there, and that particular Sandbag in the room was continually being abused by a flurry of pummels and punches.

In between the soft _thump thump_s of paws on Sandbag, the sounds of other Smashers walking by also echoed softly in the room. Lucario took no notice of this, until a creaking sound indicated that the door to the room had been quickly swung open. Assuming it was someone who accidentally opened the wrong door, Lucario took no notice of it – until a soft screeching sound caused him to halt in mid-pummel and turn his head.

What he saw was a glowing red Bob-omb grating across the floor towards him.

---

The explosion rocked the Mansion, those in the Lounge immediately sitting upright, rubbing sleep from their eyes. There was silence for a second or two, before the shout of "Fire!" Immediately, the Smashers scrambled to their feet, slowly and cautiously making their way out of the Lounge.

As the training rooms were not far from the Lounge, it was easy to see what was on fire. One of the training rooms was blackened and burnt, the door blown clear off its hinges and lay a-smoldering in the corridor. From within the room fire raged, emitting angry bursts of red and crimson out of where the door used to stand.

Pikachu had quickly ran to the scene and had reached there beforehand, and was now slowly backing away from the monstrous fire, whimpering softly with each small step. Luigi and Ganondorf had arrived from the opposite side, and were now staring at the burning wreckage with his mouth agape. Falco had earlier abandoned Fox to sleep in the Lounge, but he himself was now standing outside and wringing his wings, trying to form a coherent sentence.

Peach's small voice broke the eerie crackling sound of the fire. "Why would –" _Attempted murder._ The Smashers had a collective heart attack as Lucario appeared out of the shadows, attempting to douse the fire with a bucket of water he'd gathered from a nearby room. Peach's hands flew to her mouth in surprise; Pikachu fell over backwards; Falco grasped his chest, gawking for air; while Ganondorf looked at him incredulously, eyes wide. All other Smashers gasped and stared and involuntary took a step back.

"Don't do that again." wheezed Falco.

Luigi stumbled backwards, fiddling with something in his pockets. A second later, he shouted something triumphant in Italian, bringing out a green version of F.L.U.D.D., spewing water from its tip. Aiming the nozzle at the fire, it took a few tries to aim it right, but eventually the burning fire was extinguished, even if the rest of the Smashers had a little exposure to the wrong end of the machine.

---

It was a more subdued group of Smashers who met again in the Lounge. The jovial atmosphere was significantly dampened, and now many of the Smashers eyed each other with suspicion and fear.

"We gotta be more careful, y'all," muttered Falco dismissively, obviously trying to put on a show of bravado. However, there was no mistaking it – the pilot had gone a little paler under his feathers, now tinged a slightly lighter blue tone.

"Hey, lighten up." Fox lightly gripped the falcon around the shoulders. "S'long as we stick together, we'll be fine, I suppose."

Falco chortled half-heartedly. "Yeah, right… you and your stickin' together… Haven't you watched enough of those horror shows? The most handsome guy goes first! That's _me_!"

"Well, I didn't see an attempt on _your_ life."

_Thank you._ Lucario nodded dryly. _May we please get back to the matter of my attempted murder?_

"Right – I'm serious, though," Fox maintained, through the strains of awkward laughter. "If we stick together, chances are the better that the murderer will be less likely to act. I think…"

"Bah." Ganondorf waved a hand. "If you think I'm going to be stuck in the same room with that twit of an elf for the rest of the day, you're gravely mistaken," Link glared at him, hand already on Master Sword's scabbard.

Peach hastily brought the dispute to an abrupt end. "Tea?" she hastily interjected. "I'm brewing a new batch right now, it should be done about teatime; but until then I've got some left over from yesterday, because Zelda decided that she wanted to try some of Samus' Metroid-flavoured juice, but personally I don't think that'll taste half as nice as this, though that princess always wants to try everything that she thinks – Who wants tea?"

There was a pause.

Luigi piped up. "I'll-a have some!" Pikachu nodded his assent, pattering behind the Italian as they left the room. Link glared at Ganondorf before trudging off to the pantry with them.

---

After he left the Star Fox pilots in the Lounge and Ganondorf in his room, he slowly headed out to search the rest of the expansive Mansion. During his official stay here as a Brawler, he didn't manage to see much of it, being involved in Brawls and training and all, and furthermore his strict training regimen prevented him from taking some time off even. But now, he was reminded of how little training space there was in the Mansion.

By now, he had decided to do some meditation instead. As his room was relatively close to the now-destroyed Training Rooms themselves, he naturally ruled it out.

The Training Rooms were now out of bounds, for obvious reasons. The Sandbag Room was currently closed, the other Sandbags kept and stored away, presumably by the Hands. He had tried going onto the roof, but the constant loud clacking of tiles by the wind would render him deaf in a matter of minutes. Exiting the ladder to the roof, he resumed wandering about for the time being.

As he walked past the corridors, it was a good while before an idea suddenly occurred to him.

A short while later, Lucario pushed open the main doors to the Smash Mansion, taking in the sight of the Garden Grounds outside. Lush greenery and a carpet of luscious green grass greeted the Pokémon, while nearby tall trees whistled softly in the wind, swaying gently back and forth. With a low _hm_, Lucario let the door swing close by itself, padding down the steps of the Mansion.

Walking a short distance away from the Mansion, he found a small patch of grass where he could sit. Cross-legged, Lucario settled into position for his meditation. He would allow himself to discern any Aura which approached him within a certain radius – to prevent any more assassination attempts – and his slightly secluded position from the Mansion proper made it the perfect spot for him.

Brushing those thoughts aside, Lucario closed his eyes and rested his forepaws on his lap, and allowed his mind to clear.

He may have just been through an assassination attempt, but he had survived it. For the first time in his entire life, he had felt the feeling of relief wash through him, flooding his entire being. He stretched out his limbs, enjoying the feeling rushing through them.

Similar to the earlier training method, the flow of Aura from his sensory organs was consciously blocked off. In his mind's eye, everything was traced out in a vibrant shade of blue, but, as his Aura abilities slowly began to die down, the tracings began to uncurl and dissipate into nothingness. Slowly diminishing and disappearing; dying until bluish swirls and patterns gradually became a comforting, solid, black.

He breathed out, a slow, long sigh.

A soft wind rustled through the Garden, picking up some leaves and brushing them lightly against Lucario's blue fur. The Pokémon didn't stir, but the edges of his jaws curved up a little in a rare smile.

It was good to be alive.

The worries and cares of the world seemed to fall away for a second there, and for a moment all was peaceful silence.

.

.

.

.

… for about five minutes.

A slight sense of uneasiness stirred up in the edge of Lucario's consciousness. A small crack appeared in the blackness.

The more he tried to ignore it, the more the uneasiness gnawed at his mind, so much so that the Aura Pokémon winced. Lucario hesitated for a second, then sighed inwardly. This was going to ruin his meditation.

The Aura Filters at the back of his head rose into the air. The perfect black he saw broke, now quickly filling in with bursts of blue, like a master artist sketching out the scene before him. He discerned the general Auras of Smashers within the Mansion, quite content but with a slight taste of fear – some more so than the others, he noted. No birds, dangerous animals or the like around him. All seemed to be well.

Allowing his vision to sweep over the Mansion one last time, Lucario suddenly noticed a slight Aura on the edge of his vision. It was far away, on the other side of the Mansion, blocked all around by the Auras of the other Smashers in between, but that particular person seemed quite different.

It was certainly one of the Smashers, although Lucario couldn't quite place a paw on the exact identity. The reason was the massive amounts of guilt and shame – and fear – emanating from that individual, drowning out the signature of the person and distorting Lucario's reading of the Auras around him. _Strange_, Lucario murmured –

– his eyes suddenly snapped open and he dove out of the way.

With a telltale streak of a sniper shot, a bullet whizzed past, through the space that had been occupied by Lucario's head a mere instant ago. However, it was not a complete miss – in Lucario's attempted roll, the speeding bullet grazed the top of Lucario's shoulder, ripping off tufts of blue fur. Worse still, the bullet penetrated two of Lucario's Aura Filters, sending Lucario spinning face-first into the grass and his vision into alarming shades of red.

"Aargh!"

Lucario choked out, his voice garbled and guttural. Clutching his bleeding shoulder with his other paw, he staggered to his feet, feeling a fresh jolt of pain to his head with each movement. Glaring at the distant sniper, he started to run back towards to Mansion doors, barking out a curt warning to the rest of the inhabitants. _A sniper!_

It was unfortunately an uphill task. With his shoulder injured, Lucario's entire right forepaw could hardly be moved without considerable pain. Furthermore, the damage dealt to his Aura Filters caused his vision to switch intermittently between Aura-washed blue and blood-splattered crimson, as if his eyes themselves had received the sniper's attack.

On instinct, Lucario clutched his eyes in his good paw and leapt to the side with a bound of his powerful hindpaws. Hopefully the sniper wouldn't be able to get in another shot.

Already his vision was blurring, Lucario stumbling in his flight towards the door, his Aura Filters slamming painfully in to the back of his head and painting it with a fresh coat of crimson.

Another sound. At that precise moment, Lucario's eyes darted to that far corner of the Mansion, realizing another bullet was rifling through the air already, with him marked as the target. It was an expert marksman to reload and aim so quickly – and for him to reach the Mansion, there was only one route which he could take – which rendered him practically a sitting duck for the unseen sniper.

Halfway through the air, the shot entered Lucario's hip, shattering the hipbone and caused the Aura Pokémon to howl, landing – or rather, crashing – ungracefully on the Mansion's steps, audibly hearing something crack. Attempting to pull himself up with his forepaws, he found his right forepaw buckling under the pain from his shoulder blade, and his hindpaws rendered utterly and completely useless.

His vision had disintegrated into shattered facets, some through normal vision, some washed blue with Aura, and some eerily splattered red – just like looking through a fantastical colored broken mirror. Reaching his left forepaw shakily forward, he saw the Mansion doors were in sight – so close, yet so far –

His Aura Filters had been achingly suspended in the air for the entire duration of his fantastic flight from his meditation, and now he willed them to perform one last task. If he didn't make it back, at least they'd know who did it.

A jagged image of the assailant's distant Aura materialized once again in Lucario's mind, the Pokémon frantically racking his brain for his identity. As he continued to drag himself up the stairs with his one good paw, he couldn't help but notice the enormous amounts of sorrow, guilt and shame emanating from –

Suddenly, as if the pieces of the Aura puzzle had finally fallen into the correct position, the answer came in a blazing revelation. He was a blind fool not to see the signs before, but now it made perfect sense.

Instinct took over, and despite Rationality's dying crying warning wail, Lucario turned his head to face the direction of his assailant. His physical eyes widened in shock.

_It's_ –

---

**Fox****. Falco. Ganondorf. Link. Lucario. Luigi. Peach. Pikachu.**


	2. Urk

**Hello all.**

**Please do enjoy the next installment of **_**Cheers**_**. I hope to keep up a weekly schedule – but no promises just of yet. **

**There's a poll put up on my profile – please do go make a guess at who's the murderer! Meanwhile, put forth your guesses and theories – lupyne and Souldin have got some thinking going on in the review section. As a bonus - guess who's the next to go -**

**Second death  
lupyne: **Fox or Falco

**Thanks a lot to NinjaSheik, Shadow Blues, lupyne, Souldin, Princess Toady and Sapphiredragon345 for your kind support!**

**hawk**

**---**

Cheers – Chapter Two

_As Lucario turned to leave, he felt a paw on his shoulder. Turning around, he tilted his head slightly as he stared at Fox with a quizzical expression on his face. _Yes?

"_Aren't you afraid?" Fox finally stuttered out. "I mean, you nearly lost your life there, you realize that?"_ _Lucario was silent for a couple of seconds, enough for Fox's cheeks to suddenly burn red, in case he had said something wrong._

I do realize that_, Lucario finally spoke. _But what can I do?

"_I mean, can't you find the murderer? Hunt him down, use your, uh… Aura things," Fox __motioned with his paws, indicating the Aura Filters that hung, as if they were ashamed, from the back of Lucario's head._

I have tried that_, Lucario replied, a tinge of tiredness and resignation in his voice. Fox raised his brow questioningly. "…And?"_

I don't know. _Lucario shook his head slowly. _It's definitely an occupant of the Mansion, judging by the speed and ease in which it got away from the Training Rooms. But as to who –

_The Aura Pokémon hesitated. Fox arched his brow, silently asking him to continue. Eventually, Lucario finally spoke again._

I have suspicions. But not evidence. And until then, they will be just that – suspicions. _Lucario's fire-red eyes seemed to bore straight into Fox's green ones. Fox nodded._

_As they were going to turn to leave in the awkward silence that followed, Lucario's telepathic voice appeared in Fox's mind again, slightly softer._

And…

"_...and what, Lucario?" Just like Fox before him, Lucario seemed to have difficulty formulating his thoughts into words, and for once Fox saw a flicker of uncertainty on his face. Finally, the Pokémon seemed to give up, opting to turn around and slowly started to walk away._

I am mortal. _Lucario stated with finality. He halted suddenly, one step away from melting into the shadows. Twisting his thin neck around, he turned his head such that his eye looked over his shoulder, directly into Fox's. A thin, dry smile started to appear on the edges of his jaw._

And I am afraid.

---

Peach delicately put her teacup onto the saucer, smiling a little at the _chink_ of china on china. She had just brewed a huge new batch of tea, and smelling its sweet aroma just brought a smile to her face and a skip in her step. Singing softly to herself, she settled herself onto one of the luxurious armchairs in the room, and daintily brought the teacup and saucer to her lips.

"Aargh!"

Peach choked, spluttering, the teacup swaying wildly in her loose-fingered grip, spilling hot tea all over herself. Cross, she quickly regained composure, readjusting her crown with a quick flick of her wrist. Settling down the teacup on the table, she got up and started to storm over to the window overlooking the Mansion Gardens, where the shout came from.

_A sniper!_ Lucario's telepathic voice broke into her head, the Princess stopping dead. She was two steps away from the window, and yet she daren't go closer. Lucario wouldn't be one to kid about these things, would he? A crash from somewhere deeper in the Mansion indicated that someone else heard Lucario's yell, too.

Wait, a sniper? A _sniper_? The realization was still slowly sinking in when there was the sound of another shot, and another bloodcurdling howl came from the outside. With a sickening feeling, she realized it was Lucario's physical voice, and suddenly the looking out of the window became less and less appealing with each passing second.

Still, she forced herself forward, stumbling over her feet once, but her hands grasped the sturdy windowsill. Peering out, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, but suddenly spied a splattered trail of red. Hesitantly, her eyes followed the path of blood, only to find it ending on the Mansion steps with the figure of Lucario struggling to claw his way up.

Staggering backwards from the sight, Peach tripped backwards and fell heavily into the same armchair she got up from. Gripping the armrests, she made to pull herself up when a thought occurred to her. Couldn't Lucario use Aura to identify his assailant? Why wasn't he, then?

Her frown broke into an expression of anticipation and morbid fascination as Lucario's telepathic voice started up in her head again, this time, she winced, tinged with desperation.

_It's _–

For the third time that day, the sound from the sniper rifle echoed throughout the Smash Mansion. Peach's hand instinctively flew to her lips, relinquishing their hold on the armrests and sending the Princess crashing back onto the armchair.

She stayed there for a couple of seconds, hoping that Lucario had escaped; perhaps the sniper had missed and Lucario had fled. The seconds painfully drew on and on, but the Aura Pokémon's voice remained silenced. Lucario never spoke again.

After a short while, Peach heard padding sounds, and then the rapid _thud thud thud _as someone quickly ran past her room, in the direction of the Gardens. Quickly, she got up, shakily pushing the door open just in time to catch sight of Link's tunic disappearing around a corner. Deciding to follow him anyway, she stepped forward, making her way to the Mansion Gardens.

---

"Pika pi!" Link puffed, stopping to grab his knees and glance at the yellow blur in front of him. A few meters ahead, Pikachu skidded to a halt, turning around and glaring at Link. Gesturing forward and making more impatient noises, Pikachu tried to hurry Link along, obviously impatient with the elf's slow running speed.

_You're – pretty – fast_, thought Link in between steps, struggling to keep up with the agile Pikachu. The Pokémon looked pretty distraught, continually pulling at his tunic whenever he had the chance. However, having a shield and sword on his back did nothing for the elf's stamina –

They turned into the Smash Mansion's Hall, where the exits to the Gardens were located. Pikachu immediately made to run outside, but Link hastily grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, holding him at arm's-length much like what Lucario had done.

Pointing outside, the elf slowly put Pikachu to the ground, motioning for him to be still. The sniper may still be outside. Waiting. And ready to strike.

Slowly pushing open the door, the two crouched close to the ground. The large door swung outwards with an ominous creak, revealing the natural beauty and greenery of the Gardens beyond; closer still, the magnificent workmanship and exquisiteness of the marble flooring and steps leading to the Garden… and in the foreground, just a couple of steps away, sprawled on those very steps, was an unmoving pile of fur.

Pikachu wailed and made a motion to move, but Link put out a hand to stop him. Slowly pulling out his Hookshot, Link balanced the weapon on his arm, took careful aim, and fired. The hook gripped Lucario's good forepaw, clamping down on it near where the shoulder met the torso. Tugging experimentally on his end, Link saw that Lucario's body moved slightly in response.

Retracting the hook, Lucario's limp body bumped grotesquely up the remaining couple of stairs, until it reached the Mansion proper. Each time his Aura Filters bounced on the flooring, a large new crimson splat would appear, quickly growing and spreading with each bump. Once Link had pulled it past the door, Pikachu collapsed by its side, wailing and burying his face in Lucario's fur.

Link spared a quick glance at Lucario's face and quickly wished he didn't. As he looked, the head lolled over and rested on its side, staring directly at him. The fact that the Pokémon could go on after receiving two shots said a lot, but unfortunately there was no escaping the third, fatal shot; the Pokémon having died instantly when it hit him squarely between the eyes.

His dead eyes were frozen open in stunned shock, but even more disturbing was that what remained of his face had lost its natural azure colour under a film of dark crimson red.

As the other Smashers filed in, there were collective gasps of horror and stunned silences. Pikachu squirmed under Lucario's limp paw and lay there quietly sobbing, looking for all in the world as if Lucario had simply fallen asleep, still gently scratching the yellow-furred head.

Not wanting to see any more, Link averted his eyes as he slowly closed Lucario's, the elf's hand becoming smeared with blood.

---

After Peach and Luigi had escorted Pikachu out of the Hall, Fox took charge of the sorry scene. Ordering Falco and Link to hoist the body, one by the forepaws and the other by the hindpaws, they slowly lifted the body up.

Ganondorf pulled a large box made of some unidentified material, almost a cross between cardboard and wood. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. Together, fox and King of Evil dragged the box across the Hall, it protesting and screeching against the floor for the entire journey.

Unceremoniously dumping the box in front of them with a resounding _thud_, Fox stopped to catch his breath. Ganondorf continued to scowl at "a puny little imp", muttering continuously.

Link and Falco silently moved the body, the tip of Lucario's tail dragging across the floor. Grimacing, they lowered it into the box, then hastily withdrew their hands. Falco glanced at his blood-stained wingtips, while Link mumbled something and tried to wipe his hands on his tunic.

After quickly clattering a wooden lid on top of it and moving the makeshift coffin to the side of the Hall, the entire contingent of Smashers decided to meet once again in the Lounge. Fox stayed behind to throw one last look at the coffin, then glanced at the exit through which the rest had left.

Who would be next?

---

Fifteen minutes later, it was a rather morose group of Smashers who sat down at the large round table at which they had first convened earlier that day. Already the day wasn't over, and one of the chairs now remained unnaturally vacant.

"Don't drink too much tea, Luigi," the Princess gently chided, as Luigi held out his cup with both hands, asking for a fourth serving. The Italian obediently slunk back into his chair, gripping and ungripping the edges of his saucer nervously.

"I can't a-help it, Princess," he started, his voice trembling slightly. "Ever since I saw that-a Pokémon's eyes, I… I need a drink." After a brief silence from everyone around the table, Peach relented, pouring him a new cup of tea, which he quickly downed.

"I'm-a scared," he whispered, before sinking back into his chair and trying to suck the last drops of tea out from the very edges of his cup. The table went silent, everyone suddenly feeling the need to chat drying up on their lips.

"I mean, it could be-a anybody!" Luigi suddenly exclaimed, scaring the Smashers half out of their wits, with Pikachu nearly falling off his seat. His cup was slammed down onto its saucer with a resounding _crack_.

"I mean, it could-a be _you!_ or _you!_ or _you!_ or even _me!_" The plumber was now standing, jabbing fingers randomly into the faces seated around the table, each Smasher shrinking slightly back from the white-gloved accusing finger.

"So, how do we know? And as sure as-a I'll be having nightmares tonight, the murderer ain't gonna own up like-a that…" Luigi's voice trailed off, before he collapsed back into his chair.

Fox broke the nervous silence. "Well, it could be someone else… it could be, uh, another Smasher not here now?" Luigi laughed a high-pitched laugh. "Yeah, now I just have-a to worry about Meta Knight slitting my throat at-a night while I sleep, or Game and-a Watch appearing out-a of the shadows," he darkly remarked.

Deciding that the conversation had gone on long enough, Peach brought an abrupt halt to it. "Stop it, both of you!" she hissed softly. "You'll scare Pikachu…" Immediately both brawlers turned to watch the Pokémon in question. The small mouse Pokémon was sitting absolutely stiff and still, staring at the both of them wide-eyed.

"Pikachu?" Luigi eventually ventured. Pikachu twitched his head ever so slightly to look at Luigi, as if afraid that the plumber would reach across the table and grab him. The same went for whenever Fox so much as moved a muscle.

Link grunted in annoyance, breaking the sudden silence. Falco ran a wing through his head feathers. "Yeah, you two sure livenin' up the conversation," he awkwardly remarked. Ganondorf snorted.

"Um, Pikachu? Uh, I'm-a sorry about that…" "Yeah, me too," Fox scratched his head nervously. Pikachu slowly nodded. "Chuu."

Once again, Peach broke the awkward silence by inexplicably bringing out a basket of fruit from underneath the table. "Well, now that that's cleared up, dessert!" The Princess' voice immediately brought the Smashers back to life, grateful to the Princess for breaking the deadlock. Luigi and Fox quickly fell back into their seats and passed the basket of fruits about, each Smasher hungrily grabbing a piece.

Ensuring that everyone had a piece, the Princess took the basket of fruits and merrily set it in the center, herself taking the only peach from it and daintily placing it upon her plate.

Luigi sighed and sipped his tea, peering over the rim of his glass to his Princess. Peach smiled and nodded, one hand on her favorite peachy fruit. Trust Peach to make everything better.

Amid the crunching of apples and chewing of grapes, the Smashers slowly started to talk once again. Pikachu and Fox started an unintentional game of charades, Falco assisting – the Pokémon being unable to communicate otherwise – and Link and Ganondorf settled for staring at each other across the table, stuffing fruits into their mouth as part of an unspoken competition.

Even Luigi paused nervously gulping down tea, and chattered with a smiling Peach.

As Link fitted the remnants of a banana into his mouth, the King of Evil stared idly at the single slice of apple on his plate. Muttering something beneath his breath, he pushed it away and stared the other way. Pikachu, who had been watching the competition with increasing interest, hesitantly cheered; Falco groaned and reluctantly handed over some coins to a grinning Fox.

Swallowing the last of his fruit, and ignoring Link and his full-mouthed dance of victory, the Gerudo fixed his gaze on Peach. Waiting until Pikachu excused himself from the room for the restroom, he addressed Peach, who looked up at him. "So, Princess," he drawled. "I was thinking about where we're going to put the body…"

Immediately conversation dried up, and all the effort Peach put into making a slightly-more relaxed atmosphere dissipated at once. Luigi shot the King of Evil a withering glare, but Ganondorf shrugged it off. "Hey, it's true isn't it? We can't leave the Pokémon a-rotting in that box…"

Here Falco gagged on his tea, loudly spluttering and coughing, while Fox looked on in mild concern. For a couple of seconds nothing else was heard but the falcon's hacking and gasping, while startled Princess Peach swallowed a bite from the peach she nearly choked on.

Regaining her composure, and ignoring the glares directed at herself and Ganondorf, she tried to placate the other Smashers. "Well… he's right… we've got to have some, um, sort of burial or something?" The other Smashers remained silent, although they shifted uneasily. Some continued eating awkwardly.

"I mean, he _was_ a Smasher… so we should… we should… we – oh –" In the unexpected silence, Link idly flicked his gaze towards the Princess, his hand still poking idly at the sole lump of fruit mush on his plate.

Suddenly Peach's hands flew to her throat, the other Smashers immediately stopping whatever they were doing and started to stare at her. The Princess teetered at the edge of her seat, now desperately clawing at her throat and opening and shutting her mouth, almost like a goldfish. She staggered to her feet, grasping at her throat and trying to fan herself with her other dainty hand.

"Someone help her!" Falco suddenly ordered, standing up, his chair screeching behind his tail feathers loudly. Suddenly galvanized into action, Luigi sprang up and grabbed Peach, shaking her wildly. "Princess! Quick! She's-a choking!" Link quickly stood up, but didn't know what to do, staring into Peach's eyes frantically and helplessly.

But now Peach was violently coughing, and it was evident that she was not choking, or indeed anything normal was happening. Her face started to be tinged a little blue, her eyes popping out of her head. With Luigi grabbing her, she started grabbing him back, fear evident in her eyes.

By now everyone was standing, chairs quickly thrown to the side in their haste. Someone was yelling something but Peach didn't hear it, only watching mouths and muzzles and beaks move silently, without meaning or coherence.

Luigi felt her grip becoming less and less firm, and quickly looked his Princess straight in her eye. "Hold-a on! You hear me, Princess? Hold-a on –" Peach nodded weakly, her face becoming more and more bluish.

"You're gonna have to hold-a on, you're gonna be-a okay, Mario's gonna bring you back to your-a castle…" Peach continued nodding, her head dreamily moving up and down in response to Luigi's constant babble of words, although it was constantly interrupted by her violent coughing spasms.

Falco, his face increasingly pale, turned to his teammate and roommate. "Don't we have a medicine cabinet?" Fox, too mortified by the situation, nodded absent-mindedly, and then realized what Falco was saying. "I… don't really know where it is," he muttered to himself, then "Go! You go!" he hurriedly urged, the bird nodding and disappearing down the hallway.

Pikachu had chosen this inopportune moment to wander back into the room, and instead of facing a set of calm, collected, even relatively happy group of Smashers, it was a scene of complete pandemonium. Fox was standing at the side gripping his head, Link and Ganondorf were each on a side, murmuring in hushed tones. The King of Evil even looked slightly afraid or concerned.

And in the middle of it all were Luigi and Peach, locked into a dissoluble morbid embrace, the Italian frantically shaking the Princess repeatedly until her hair got entangled with her crown, Peach's violent hacking and rasping sounding grating and unnatural to everyone's ears. Desperation was starting to well up in Luigi's eyes, and it started to spill over into everyone else's.

Already the rest Smashers were pressing in onto Peach, some shouting words while others looked on in concern. Even Ganondorf joined the "pesky elf" in the crowd, peering almost anxiously at Peach. The noise and babble steadily rose, reaching an awful climax as everyone started shouting and yelling, the air filled with their loud clamors.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the coughing ceased, Luigi suddenly going very white. All yells abruptly stopped.

"… Princess?"

With a sudden _urk_, Princess Toadstool stiffened, gradually slipping out of Luigi's grasp. Her grapplehold on Luigi loosened slightly, and then relaxed altogether. As if in slow motion, everyone watched as the she twitched, jerking slightly out of Luigi's grasp, starting to fall imperceptibly towards the floor.

For what seemed like an eternity, everyone's eyes traced the arc, watching the body sluggishly and unhurriedly fall from Luigi's still fingers. Her fingers traced spirals in the air, trailing in the air as if it was water. One hand still half-clenched the peach, but even that now started to relax, her beautiful long fingers inexplicably paler and unnaturally whiter.

With an extraordinarily loud _thud_, the body of Princess Peach hit the floor. Her hand uncurled, the poisoned peach rolling out and coming to a rest some distance away.

There was silence as everyone simply stared.

A muffled yelp came from Luigi's throat, before his eyes rolled up and he fainted.

---

**Fox****. Falco. Ganondorf. Link. **_Lucario._** Luigi. **_Peach._** Pikachu.**


	3. Stab

**Hello all.**

**I've been trying to update on a weekly basis, but ****obviously I failed to meet the weekly time last week. Sorry about that, I really didn't like the way this chapter was written then. Hopefully it's better now. ****Next update should be 19 February, on a Friday (or Saturday morning, depending on where you are). I apologise for the delay but things have been catching up and I need a breather.**

**Many thanks to lupyne, Princess Toady, Shadow Blues, Luna La Pond Rugby Girl 16, Twilight Smash, SapphireDrakon, NinjaSheik, Souldin and Dusk-N-Dawn! That's a long list –**

**Actually planned for this chapter to be longer, but will be shifting some of it to the next chapter. An****d things are going to get a little more exciting… and I promise you that things actually aren't so straightforward.**

**Once again, all the sequences (and methods) of death have been planned beforehand, no changing of the order was done.**

**Third death****  
lupyne: **Ganondorf or Link**  
Souldin: **Link or Falco  
**SapphireDrakon: **Link or Ganondorf

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

**hawk**

Cheers – Chapter Three

Link howled, dropping to his knees with a thud at the bodies. The melancholy Hylian wails floated almost dreamily around the Lounge, not grating to the ear yet chilled the Smashers to the very bone. The almost-melodious sounds lifted and fell like an animal's dying cry, gradually filling the room from wall to wall.

Ganondorf looked away.

Shaking his head slowly from side to side in disbelief, Fox gingerly approached the bodies. Two steps forward and one step back later, he halted, not wanting to walk any further. Falco hesitated half a step behind the vulpine, a wing on his Blaster, his quivering beak clamped firmly shut.

Pikachu stumbled ahead of him, slowly crawling on all fours to Peach's side. "Chuu?..." Disbelieving. Staggering. He shakily pawed at the cold skin, but received no response. The little paw patted the Princess's skin, where the slender wrist met the arm.

He pawed again. The Princess remained silent to his murmurs, and didn't offer him a cup of tea.

The electric Pokémon's shrill voice joined the Hylian's in mourning.

Ganondorf didn't disappear back into the shadows, but actually went with Link and disappeared out the door. It wasn't until a minute later that the Ganondorf quietly informed them that they had found something.

Uncomfortably lifting Peach's lifeless body up, the pilots slowly shifted her body into a makeshift coffin the other duo had found, similar to that of Lucario's. Uneasily, they heaved the coffin into place next to the Aura Pokémon's, the two graves sitting eerily still and quiet in the corner of the Hall.

There seemed to be a tap at the window, Link looking sharply behind. The space animals glanced at the direction of his gaze.

Far above them, at the far corner of the Hall, situated above the ledge Pikachu had leapt from, there was a small window overlooking the Gardens. It was but a small window, often glittering in the sunlight whenever a Smasher so much as looked at it. Right now, however, the glittering shimmer was gone, replaced with a moody gray tone. Beyond the window, there was a slight rumble.

A single raindrop hit the window pane, the _tap_ reverberating ominously in the impinging darkness.

_Two down._

---

Meaningless. Nothingness. Nothing made sense now.

It was Lucario and then it was _Peach_ and then it could be anyone but I don't care I don't care no more to heck with everything and if only everything could just turn back into the way it was and I just want to go home.

"Ru – Rlu – Rluiji?"

Blearily, Luigi opened his eye a crack. Gradually, he allowed light to filter in, slowly sitting up and rubbing his head. His green hat was missing, but right now he didn't really care.

"Where am I?..."

Blinking a couple of times, he got his bearings. He was sprawled out on the floor of the Lounge, but without the body of Peach next to him. Squatting next to him, the figure of Link stared straight into his face, twisting his own cap in his hands nervously.

"Ah, Luigi, you're awake," someone's voice drifted in from behind. A tired voice. Fox's saddened voice. "Link, you sure you can bring him back to his room yourself?" Link turned his head and nodded.

Falco's tired voice drifted back to Luigi. "'kay then, Link, I'll be taking Pikachu back, then." As the avian turned, Luigi heard the soft sniffles of the Pokémon gradually dying away as Falco's footfalls faded.

When he turned back, Luigi saw the glistening of dried tears running down Link's face. The two slowly trudged their way back down the corridor, towards Luigi's room. As they reached, Link handed the Italian his 'L' cap, then turning and shuffling back to his room on the opposite far wing of the Mansion. But Luigi slowly pushing his door open, and motioned Link to come in; the Hylian doing so, sitting down next to him. "So, uh, Link… Is she-a… is she-a really…"

Link looked away, his hands still nervously tugging at his cap. Eventually, at length, he slung it over his head, allowing it to shadow most of his face, the tip flopping limply down as he nodded once.

The next half an hour passed in a blur for Luigi as he lost control of himself, opting to simply sob into his sleeve and Link's. The Hylian didn't object as he allowed Luigi to cry, tears streaming down his own face.

Eventually, he pulled out an instrument from within his tunic, slowly placing it on his lips. From the ocarina issued a shaky tune, uncertain and unsure, but gradually becoming stronger. The melody grew, becoming more beautiful and wondrous, but its tone deepened, melancholy and haunting and somberly powerful.

Like a soothing potion, their tears slowed, although they didn't stop completely. Link's voice quavered once or twice, but otherwise the song remained strong. Gradually, as the music filled the room, Luigi fell asleep, quietly sobbing, on Link's shoulder.

---

The next morning, some of the Smashers gathered morosely around the Lounge table. Fox scratched his rumpled fur, as Falco exited from the room next to him. The avian looked markedly more awake, although eyebags had started to develop around the blue-feathered face, the past day obviously taking its toll on the pilot. Falco let the door go, and it slammed shut with a _bam_.

"Yargh!" Fox stumbled, eyes immediately awake as adrenalin rushed into his system. His avian teammate jerked, spinning around and gripping Fox by the shoulders.

"Hey, Foxy," Falco cocked his head, snapping his wings, the slightly-sleepy vulpine blearily staring back at him. "Stay with me here. You're awake?" Fox blinked, rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes. After giving a long yawn, he snapped his jaw shut and clapped the feathered creature on the back. "Thanks to you," he murmured.

Passing by Pikachu's room, they couldn't help but notice that the door was locked. Through the door, though, they heard Pikachu's light snoring, interrupted by occasional murmurings and a drawn-out whine. "Dreaming," muttered Falco, as they walked by. "Poor kid."

As they both trudged into the Lounge, they found Ganondorf shadowed in the corner of the room, buried in the same tome he had been reading since the day before. He barely looked up when they greeted him, but merely grunted and continued with his book, nonchalantly flipping a page.

Luigi looked up from his cup, his darkened eye circles testament to his stress and sleepless night. Only now had he slowly recovered from the loss of Peach, with Link's comforting. Lifting Peach's old teacup , he raised his cup of tea in acknowledgement.

As Fox wandered aimlessly around the room, absent-mindedly looking at the Lounge's armchairs and stools, Falco dropped himself heavily into the chair beside the plumber, pushing a cup towards him. Luigi hesitated for a second, then grudgingly poured tea into it. "Thanks," Falco murmured, raising the cup to his beak.

RIIIING.

Luigi half-choked, Falco spewed tea from his beak all over the poor plumber. Fox jackknifed mid-step, as if he had been pulled backwards by an invisible line. Even Ganondorf looked up from his book, a questioning expression drawing his eyebrows up in an arch.

RIIING.

A look of recognition clicked in Fox's eyes, and a gleam suddenly flourished. His ears quickly stood bolt upright, twitching and painfully active, ready and waiting for the sound to reappear. A silence fell upon the crowd, just long enough for Luigi to venture "What was –"

RIIING.

"Yaaargh!" Luigi fell backwards as Fox suddenly dived at the apparent source of the sound. Unfortunately, one of the many tall stacks of paper in the far corner of the Lounge were in the way, and as Fox leaped towards the far wall of the Lounge he crashed headfirst into one of them. It toppled over, hitting the others in a spectacular domino fashion. Paper and fox disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Falco's beak dropped. "Buh?"

From the dust cloud, Fox stood, shaking off a thin layer of dust. Triumphantly clutched tightly in his right paw was something mechanic, half-hidden in his ginger-and-white-fur. From within his grip it suddenly lit up with an internal light, familiar characters suddenly running across its surface, and RIIINGed.

"Phone call from Zelda," Fox reported.

Ganondorf _hmph_ed, although even he looked interested. The rest crowded around the phone eagerly. In their excitement and their haste, they had forgotten that there was Fox's phone in the Lounge, hidden behind stacks and stacks of Master Hand's overdue paperwork. Normally, no one had used it, leaving it to accumulate a thick layer of dust that now attached itself to Fox's once-orange fur.

"Hello, Fox?"

"Zelda!" there was a collective cry and rush for the phone, each one talking and babbling, resulting in an incoherent din. Zelda, all the way back in Hyrule, almost fell off her seat when the little mobile phone exploded with sound and poured noise into her ears.

The princess held the phone at arm's length, still hearing voices issuing from it. As part of a Kingdom that didn't really dabble into technology, these things were still foreign to even the wise Zelda, but it had been impolite to not accept it as a means of keeping in touch.

---

"_Hey, Link!"_

_Link and Zelda turned their head, the Hero of Time looking up briefly from his encounter with the flaky pastry in his hand. The party was just getting started, Fox stopped short, then grinned. "Hello to you too, Princess."_

"_Good day, Fox," Zelda replied evenly, smiling at the vulpine, while the Hero of Time barely nodded before stuffing the rest of the pastry into his mouth. "How can I help you?"_

_Falco suddenly appeared beside his teammate, playfully leaning on his shoulder. Fox whined a little and tried to push the heavy avian off, but to little avail. Falco lazily grabbed a metallic… something… from Fox's grasp, twirled it around in a practiced motion, before presenting it to Zelda with both wings._

"_Here ya go."_

_Zelda politely accepted it, but stared curiously at it. Holding it up with one hand, she shook it experimentally, half-expecting something to pop out. Fox gave a chuckle, before holding out a paw for it._

"_It's a phone, Princess." he said, displaying the pattern of numbers on its body. "If ever you'd like to contact us, you could always give us a call, and we'll be able to talk through these things."_

"_Communication?" _Communication? _Link looked over Zelda's shoulder, munching on something. "Yes, precisely." The vulpine nodded. It's an easier means than sending letters or messengers, 'cause you get to talk directly to the person in question. All you got to do is press this button –" _

_A ring shocked Zelda from her curious gaze on the phone, staring around wildly. Link mimicked her actions, half-afraid, half-curious about where the sound was coming from._

_Quickly, __Fox held out his paw, a similar looking gadget vibrating and emitting the sound. Pressing a button on it, Fox held it to his ear and motioned that Zelda do the same. _

_Link, perhaps fearing a more sinister intention, suddenly snatched the phone out of the vulpine's grasp and held it to his head instead before Zelda could even react._

"_Hello?"_

_Link pulled the phone away from his ear, blinking._ Wow.

_Zelda raised an eyebrow.__ "'_Wow_'?"_

It works! _Link exclaimed. _Amazing magic, this – HELLOOO –

_Here Link grabbed the phone and hollered the last word into it as if his life depended on it. On the other end, two meters away, Fox yanked the screeching phone out of his sensitive ear a second too late and __would later spend the next five minutes rubbing his head, trying to get rid of the sound._

"_Well, uh, excuse me, Princess, but –"_

"_I got the idea, thanks, Fox," she smiled, although a little worried. "You okay?__ I apologise, we are not exactly familiar with –"_

_Fox rubbed his ear. "Nah. I've been better," he quipped, smiling wryly at Link who was now yelling himself hoarse, shouting unintelligible Hylian into the disconnected phone while a couple of other Smashers slowed down and stared. Zelda resisted the urge to claw her hand across her face, and suppressing the urge to wash Link's mouth out with soap._

"_Hey look, the wine table!" __Falco interrupted. "Maybe this'll take your mind off your _ear_," emphasizing the last syllable in a loud tone near the said ear. Fox twitched involuntarily, then grumpily allowed himself to be led away by his teammate. "Sorry 'bout that, though, fox ears, ya see – don't mind us, Princess, sorry Link, move aside a little –"_

_Zelda chuckled__ as the two space animals disappeared amongst the crowd, then turned to Link, who was now biting the phone and grunting. Mid-chew, Link spotted Zelda looking at him, and their eyes locked._

_There was an awkward silence._

What? _he innocently asked._ It doesn't work now.

"_Oh, Link," she sighed. Link laughed, flipping the phone in a surprisingly fluid movement and slotting it into his tunic._

_Right about then, K. K. Slider started up a slow, rhythmic song, the melody gently soothing to the ears. __Zelda closed her eyes, suddenly reminded of her Lullaby and how the calming tune reminded her of the rolling fields of Hyrule, and sparkling seas, and the light touch of the spring wind on her cheeks._

_When she opened her eyes again, Link had turned around, green eyes sparkling as they met Zelda's once more. _Have fun, Princess. We are at a ball, after all. _He took a couple of steps back, before extending out a hand (free of pastry crumbs) to a surprised Zelda._

Princess Zelda – may I have this dance?

---

Zelda suddenly awoke from her reverie, shaking her head softly. Realising that she was still on the phone, she hesitantly pressed it to her ear, hearing the voices pour out in unintelligible scraps.

"Oh it's horrible, horrible –" "First it was him and then it was her and I don't know and –" "It was so real –" "Tch." "His eyes, his eyes, I still can see his –" "It was so sudden we didn't know and we've heard no one and we've only just heard from you –" "I see it everytime I close my eyes –"

"Whoa – What's going on?" Zelda finally got in a word sideways, her abrupt voice suddenly silencing the rest of the crowd. Getting up, she started to pace her room, eventually settling for resting her shoulders on a window ledge and staring out at the Hylian landscape.

"I'm calling 'cause Link isn't back yet. I don't know about Ganondorf, though – but Link isn't back. I did think there'd be some time difference or such with the teleporters, but I didn't think it would be that long –"

At this point of time, the awake Smashers were gathered around a round table, with the phone in the middle and Zelda's voice emitting from it. Fox cut her off mid-speech, trying his best to sound calm. "Link and Ganon never got on the teleporter. Some of us never did. There was a malfunction, and we're stuck in the Mansion 'till it can be repaired."

"Ah? This is bad… who's stuck with you?" Fox doubled back, checking through the list of Smashers in his mind while glancing across at room, mentally sorting them by their universes. "Uh… me and Falco, Link and Ganon, Luigi and Pe –"

Fox's throat caught. "… and P_ikachu_. Pikachu and… that's all."

"Oh." Zelda's tone sounded reassured, if only slightly. "Well then… may I talk to Link, then? I haven't seen him or talked to him in a while." She rested her finger on her chin, stroking it slightly. "It'll be the first time I've ever talked to him through this," she added, a tinge of a smile lighting up her face.

"Uh…" Fox, who had temporarily lost focus, shook his head to regroup. Luigi _tsk_ed in annoyance. "She wants-a to talk to Link."

"Oh. Yeah. Right then, in a moment," he replied, the last sentence directed to the phone. Picking it up, he exited the door of the Lounge, headed straight for the room of the Hero of Time. "He's still asleep, I think – he slept pretty late last night …" his voice trailed off as the door closed behind him.

Luigi sipped some of Peach's tea. After Peach's – death – Luigi still couldn't bring himself to accept that – he had been forced to ration his tea. There had simply not been enough to go around, especially when he thought he had to drink several cups a day to compose himself, or to stop himself from going insane.

A soft screech told him that Falco had pushed his cup across the table, wordlessly asking for a refill. Shaking his head, Luigi muttered something about saving the tea for later and that the avian already had two cups. Falco snorted, then kicked back in his chair.

"You're not the only one who needs it, ya know." Falco gripped the almost-empty cup and drained the last few drops of tea still in it. "Other people are scared, too." Luigi blinked, looking away. His hand trembled on Peach's chipped teapot, hesitating for a long time, before eventually picking it up and slowly allowing half a pot to drip into Falco's cup.

Ganondorf _tch_ed and continued reading the thick tome he had gotten from the library. "Pitiful." "Watch it, Ganon," Falco cautioned darkly, having picked up the remark with sensitive hearing. "Otherwise you won't be getting no tea."

Luigi open his mouth to add a witty remark, but didn't get far before there was the sound of thudding footsteps and the door slamming open behind him. Fox popped his head back into the Lounge. They looked across the room at him, only to find fear and confusion etched upon his face.

"I think you guys had better come."

---

Link's room was interesting. Anyone entering it had an immediate feel of entering a soft forest, what with the walls painted in differing shades of green, and a couple of windows shining light, mimicking the rays of sunlight breaking from a forest's canopy.

In the corner of the room was a little water feature, a miniature fountain made of some unknown material. Zelda had procured it for him, and Link had proudly displayed it on his desk. It was very relaxing to look at, and made a comforting sound of running water. It almost completed the illusion of a little forest, with sound of a small running brook winding through the forest floor, and soft light reflecting off the watery surface and casting a mesmerizing pattern on the opposite wall.

Link claimed that he liked the sound he made, but it was rather obvious the real reason why he had kept it.

The only thing missing, really, was the chirping sounds of birds and crickets.

On this Link had vehemently objected to any modification – claiming it reminded him too much of an irritating talking companion. Whenever he was pressed to reveal any information on this mysterious companion, Link would inevitably clam up, playfully shake his head, his cap drooping over his eyes in mock exasperation, and politely refuse to answer any question.

Falco was sure he had been muttering some Hylian under his breath, amongst them the word 'Navi'. Zelda casually cautioned them to not press the issue too far.

As Fox opened the door, it creaked on its hinges, swinging outwards. The first thing that caught their eyes was the sunlight splotches on the floor, the rustling of the water, and the large stump on the floor.

When his Master Sword was not in use, Link liked to sheath it in the stump. Apparently, he thought it looked rather ancient and mystical, having a giant sword protruding out of a fake treestump in the room. Zelda explained it as "That's how he got the Sword in the first place" and "he does have a sense of humour, after all". Link had grinned, and let out a stream of Hylian they didn't understand.

Zelda had turned around and shushed him, smiling faintly.

The door creaked fully open. Everything seemed to be in order. The sun was still shining. But that was about it.

The place was in total disarray. What little furniture Link had was destroyed, strewed across the room. Coming from a less-technologically advanced time, he needed only the bare necessities, requiring not much else than what was needed. And all this was now splintered and in separate fragments spread over the floor of the room.

The fountain no longer bubbled merrily on its perch, instead dashed across the floor in separate pieces. One hemisphere bore the Hylian inscriptions of _Link_ and _Zelda,_ still lovingly etched into its body. It still dribbled water, its motor working feebly and pumping, barely alive, painfully oozing across the shattered surface of the once-whole fountain, dripping onto the floor below.

The Master Sword was sheathed in its tree-stump.

And through Link's lifeless body.

Sprawled out across the tree stump, face-down, his limbs dangling limply over the edge of the relatively small stump, was a familiar figure still clad in his trademark green tunic. His shield was scratched and scorched slightly in places, and was flung far across the room from the unfortunate body.

Run straight through him was his very own Master Sword. The hilt of it still showed, but the rest of it was hidden neatly in Link's own body, sheathed in a grotesque scabbard of flesh and blood.

Drawn out next to him, in his own blood, was a crudely sketched out figure, scratched out in shaky lines of red. A triangle within a triangle. Falco knew it as the Tri-something-or-the-other, a signature of Link's universe. Ganondorf drew a sharp breath, a hand subconsciously going to the similar Triforce symbol etched on the other.

Across his table were the remnants of a destroyed pastry were evident, one side crushed and splattered across the desk, flaky crumbs spilling onto the bloodied floor.

All that was heard for the next few seconds was the constant dripping sound of water. It was slowly driving them all insane.

There was an electronic crackle and a burst of static from Fox's hand, everyone suddenly startling and jumping. Zelda's voice issued from the phone, made artificially high-pitched and tinny.

"Hello? So is Link there?"

Ganondorf wordlessly stepped past them into the room, examining the Triforce symbol. Luigi stared, his jaw still agape, and started to murmur something about more tea, stumbling backwards slowly until he was past the threshold of the room. He deliriously murmured Link's name, then staggered past them and down the corridor.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Falco rested a wing on Fox's shoulder, causing Fox to shudder. "So, Foxy," he whispered, his usually brave voice cracking. "Whatta we do now?"

Fox dreamily lifted the phone to his ear, still staring dead ahead. His jaw unhinged, as if he was going to say something, but snapped shut at the last minute. Zelda's voice still came through, issuing softly through the mobile phone, gradually getting more and more questioning and worried.

At length, Fox finally blinked once, twice, shook his head and whispered back into the phone's mouthpiece, his voice cracked and dry.

"He's asleep."

**Fox****. Falco. Ganondorf. **_Link.__Lucario._** Luigi. **_Peach._** Pikachu.**


	4. Ding

**Hello all.**

**I know I promised actual plot developments, so here you go. Hopefully this'll spur more guessing –**

**Sorry for the delay, but I really wanted to get this chapter right. Additionally, **_**Cheers**_** will now be updating only once every two weeks, probably on Friday/Saturday. This is to ensure some degree of quality in my work and also to keep my sanity as real-life commitments start to increase. In return, chapters might be slightly longer. Like this one.**

**From now on, I'll report both the predictions of the next death**** and the poll for the murderer (if there are changes). I've got the poll up on my profile, so if you do want to take a bet on the murderer's identity, please do vote. The story's coming to an end soon – it's going to be the usual seven chapters long.**

**Especially a****s this is the start of the second half of the story, I'd really like to hear from you. What theories do you have? Who do you accuse?**

**Fourth death  
****Shadow Blues: **Pikachu or Ganondorf  
**lupyne:** Luigi, or Fox and/or Falco  
**Souldin:** Ganondorf

**Poll**

**Pikachu** – 4 votes  
**Fox** – 3 votes  
**Falco,** **Luigi** – 2 votes each  
**Ganondorf,** _Link_,_ Peach_ – 1 vote each

**Somehow, no one voted for Lucario.**

**All that aside, here is the fourth chapter. Many thanks to NinjaSheik, Shadow Blues, Dusk-N-Dawn, lupyne, SapphireDrakon, T S Rugby Girl 16, Souldin and Twilight Smash, and all readers! I hope you enjoy it, and many thanks for reading.**

**hawk**

**---**

Cheers – Chapter Four

_There was a round table, and he was seated at its head. A singular teapot rested in its center, so close, but every__ time he reached for it, it seemed to move further and further away._

_He heard a voice say something, he himself whipping around. The voice was at once familiar but yet he couldn't place a paw on it, and he couldn't even tell what was being said. He found himself sitting on the same chair, with a figure seated across from him. The figure was so blurred that he couldn't even tell its size or shape, but only saw it as a quivering mass of inky blackness._

_Fox tried to force a couple of words __out of his throat but found himself suddenly choking on them, silently and wordlessly. He tried to move, but he couldn't even lift a finger. Immobilised, all he could do was watch as the black cloud slowly drifted towards him._

"_Fox."_

"_Fox."_

"Fox." The scene faded away to black, replaced by a tiredness and the feeling of someone roughly shaking his forepaw. Groggily, Fox McCloud lifted his head from the table he had been sleeping on.

Slowly the events came back together. Link's body. Disgustedly throwing his phone to the floor, staggering outside to the Lounge, crossing his paws on the table and laying his muzzle down for just a split second. And having the same weird dream as he did that very same morning.

Link.

Suddenly sick to his stomach, he quickly threw his thoughts away. Blinking, Fox looked around. Standing right beside him was his long-time teammate Falco, wing on his flight jacket. A heavy footfall told him that Ganondorf was pacing the ground behind him, evidently deep in thought.

Fox shook his head roughly, as if to clear his mind. Feeling dizzy and light-headed, the vulpine staggered to his feet. "Where's … uh, Luigi?"

A dry retch echoed from across the corridor. Falco cocked his head in the general direction of the restrooms. "He's been like that for a few minutes now, even after we moved the body."

Fox sprung to his feet, suddenly alert. "Wait, you what? You moved him? You should have looked for evidence! Anything –"

"Whoa, calm down, Foxy," Falco put two strong wings on his teammate's shoulders and literally forced him back into his seat. "You've been out cold for a pretty long time, so we had to, uh, get 'im a coffin. You obviously haven't been sleeping well yesterday, huh. Ganon's inspected the land, couldn't find out who it was."

Fox's eyes suddenly narrowed to a slit. "Ganon?"

The avian nodded. "I know what'cha thinking. Ganon did it, didn't he? I had a look through it, as well. Peering over his shoulder, making sure he didn't do nothing wrong. Luigi was there, too, though he was a bit too shaken." Giving a disgusted grunt, Falco flung himself onto a seat.

"Nothing. Not a single fingerprint or anything. Sure he was interested in the Triforce symbol, but that's about it." Falco flicked a wing through his feathers irritably. "I don't think it's him." Fox heaved a sigh, dropping his muzzle back in between his arms, folding them up and lying helplessly on the table.

It was silent for a couple of seconds, before Fox lifted his head slightly and stared quizzically at Falco. "Pikachu?"

"The little critter's still asleep," Falco mumbled. "Didn't hear a thing, and apparently he had a rough night, too." Fox nodded.

Luigi happened to wander back into the room at that very moment, and saw Fox was awake. "Ah, Fox. Come-a here. There's-a been… developments." Beckoning them to follow, the Mario brother quickly hurried them out of the room.

---

Luigi led them all the way back to Link's room. The blood was (mostly) gone, although a few uncleaned splatters here and there reminded them that the room's owner was no longer around to claim it. The broken fountain was swept up, and the Master Sword, the messenger of death for Link, was sheathed in its proper sheath, tucked away in the corner of the room.

"So… care to tell us why we're back here?" Fox looked around the room. Nothing looked remarkably suspicious. In fact, with the sunlight now streaming through the window, the room looked less intimidating than it did only just a while ago, and in fact looked… almost… normal.

Luigi _tch_ed. "Nobody ever looks up."

Instinctively, Fox's muzzle snapped upwards, his eyes searching for any clue written on the ceiling of the ill-fated room. It didn't take long, though – closer to the corner of the room, there was a rather obvious gaping hole in the ceiling.

More accurately, it was like a gash. A tearing rip had appeared in the thin ceiling wall, revealing what lay behind it. It was like an ugly scar on the otherwise neat room… aside from the still bloodily-splattered floor.

Fox tried to whistle, but his breath failed him and left him spluttering. As he coughed, Luigi explained: apparently, while they were trying to remove the Sword from Link's body, Ganondorf had exerted too much pressure and literally sent the Sword flying into the air, bashing a hole through the ceiling.

The force was so great that the Sword got lodged up in the empty space above the ceiling wall, and was lost form sight. After some arguments, eventually, the plumber was volunteered to crawl up into the space and retrieve it.

"…which-a explains my overalls," muttered Luigi, looking at his blackened and stained clothes, dirtied from scrabbling about in the ceiling. His eyes reddened, remembering the sickening feeling of pulling a sword out of the lifeless body of a friend, but he bit his lip and no tears came out. He turned away.

Fox thought about that piece of information for a moment, then tapped Luigi on the shoulders, forcing the green-capped plumber to face him. His eyes raised up in a questioning look.

"So, why did you tell me this?"

Luigi shrugged. "Seemed like-a Master Hand cut more corners building this thing than-a we thought he did."

Dismissively, he waved the issue aside, lowering his voice and becoming more serious. "I think we should-a start, uh, investigating. Things have-a gone totally out-a control." Falco scoffed. "No, really?"

Luigi ignored the remark, his face hardening. "I'm gonna answer for Peach on this one. I gotta know who it is, and make-a him pay. Either that, or I'm-a going to die tryin'." The avian shushed him, also becoming more somber. Fox sighed. Things were going to come to a head soon, and he somehow knew in his gut that it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Tea," Fox muttered weakly. "Need – tea."

Ignoring him, and starting out of the door, Luigi called over his shoulder. "Get-a Ganon and wake up Pikachu. We're going to the Storeroom."

---

Ten minutes later, Luigi, Fox, Falco, Pikachu and a rather irritated King of Evil were standing in a tight circle outside the Storeroom door. Having just learnt of Link's death, Pikachu had wandered about listlessly, often not following the group closely and seemed deep in thought most of the time, occasionally lifting a paw to rub his eyes. Tears stained his short fur, until to the point where they blurred his vision so much he had to stop and ask for something to wipe his face with.

Ganondorf was irritated because – as always – they had interrupted him in the middle of his book. Nevertheless, he placed the book on a table in the Lounge, then grumbled as he followed the vulpine to the meeting-area.

The Storeroom was situated on one of the highest levels in the Mansion, tucked away somewhere slightly inaccessible. Oftentimes, when there was not enough food in the Kitchens (usually due to Kirby's midnight snacks), the Smashers would find themselves wandering to the Storeroom for bits of food.

Maybe here they'd find the poisoned peach's source.

And now, Luigi laid his hand on the wooden door and pushed it open.

It opened with a creak, swinging inwards to revealed a rather cluttered room. Crates littered the place, some of them stacked upon each other, some of them open and half empty. A couple of them were lying on their side, their contents spilt and scattered across the floor.

Suddenly there seemed to be a quiet which descended upon the group. Even Ganondorf didn't argue or grumble, but stepped silently in line behind the rest of the remaining Smashers.

The silence hung about them, so thick that Pikachu felt that if he'd just reach out with his paw, he'd be able to touch something. They slowly circled about the room, on tiptoe, quiet, not daring to breathe or touch anything, only looking and staring at each other.

In the deafening silence, they all wished for someone to break it. The room appared to be suffocating, even though there was a slight breeze, and the heavy quietness of it all started to be overwhelming.

Unknowingly, Luigi brushed against a tower of crates stacked upon each other and placed in the corner of the room. It was only a gentle touch, but apparently it was enough. The tower started to groan and lean dangerously to the side, bearing down on the plumber as he only just started to turn around.

"Look out –" Falco started, his voice raising in urgency, but Fox jumped forward and grabbed Luigi, pulling him out of the way of the crates. As both of them tumbled to the ground locked in each others' arms, the crates smashed themselves into the floor with a resounding _crash_, splintering the wooden bodies of the crates.

Cans and foodstuff spilt and spread like blood from the mangled crates. The metallic sound of the cans bouncing on the floor was enough to break the other Smashers out of their stupor, craning their necks to see if Fox and Luigi were alright.

They had made it only by the mere skin of their teeth. Fox's tail was mere centimeters away from the pile of rubble, but luckily their only injury was a can or two to the head. One such can spun, rolling away from the mess, but Falco, who was nearest, picked it up and peered at it.

As they helped them up, Falco glanced at the can in his wing, reading the writing printed on its body. "'Oran berries'," he whispered. The rest of the Smashers heard it, and looked at the floor about them. Scattered at their feet were cans of what would have been Lucario's food.

A sudden slam made everyone nearly jump out of their skins, frantically looking around for the source of the sound. Pikachu stumbled backwards and knocked against a pile of crates, but luckily the same incident didn't occur. Eventually, Luigi pointed dead ahead – a small window, before unnoticed, which had suddenly slammed shut due to wind.

"Scary little thing," Falco commented. Ganondorf _tch_ed, slightly annoyed that he had been momentarily frightened by something as minor as a window closing.

Pikachu, however, stared at the window a little longer than one should have. Luigi glanced past the Pokémon through the window, before stopping to do a double take. As the rest of the Smashers continued on their awkward shuffling, Luigi crept forwards and peered through the window.

He drew in his breath.

"Guys?" He stammered, beckoning them to come over. The rest of the Smashers did so, shuffling their feet and craning their necks to see what Luigi was pointing at. The window seemed normal enough, and it opened out to show the rolling stretch of the Garden grounds below, all the way to a shady grove and the marble steps in front of the Mansion's main doors.

"What about it?" Ganondorf muttered, looking annoyed that Luigi had chosen to make such an idiotic statement. "If it's just a scratch on the window, I swear I'll –"

"Don't you-a see?" hissed Luigi, his voice silencing even the Gerudo. "Look!" Once again the Smasher's eyes travelled across the window, to the Gardens, to the grass, to the clumps of dull red flowers that weren't there a few days before, and finally to the marble steps with dried blood still splattered across them.

The spilled blood, from the first Smasher's death so long ago that it had dried up into darkened crimson and remained, only as a trace, only as a footprint, but yet it seemed to command so much attention.

Pikachu stared at Luigi, then stared back out at the scenery before them. The heavily silence descended once more, as realization slowly began to flood into their minds, the silence becoming so great that they could hear their hearts beating against their ribcages.

The tension soared as the realization suddenly sunk into their minds with such impact. Here, they thought, was the beginning of all their troubles, the very place where everything finally started to disintegrate and fall apart.

_Lucario's sniper was here._

Seeing his fellow Smashers standing stiffly, not even daring to breathe, and with Luigi starting to turn pale again, Fox decided to intervene. "Uh… I… don't think the sniper… is still around," he finally ventured, his voice unnaturally loud in the quiet room. Looking around left and right, there was no movements other than the uneasy ones of his fellow Smashers.

"If I were-a sniper…" Luigi began shakily, settling down on a crate in front of the window. With trembling hands he tried to mimic a gun, weakly _pew pew pew_ing into the Gardens. He then sat there, trying to imagine what would happen next, while Pikachu sniffed the air.

"Outta my way," grumbled Falco, gently nudging Luigi aside. Sitting down on the crate, he propped his leg up on the crate, then rested his imaginary gun on the windowsill. Pausing a moment, he turned to look at Fox. "Oi. Am I doin' it right? I forget all our lessons…"

The vulpine shrugged. "I don't know. Plus, we never actually learnt sniping." Falco cocked his head for a second, pressing a wing to the side of his head. "Yeah."

However, the falcon turned his attention back to the window, holding a pretend sniper rifle in between his wings. He "fired", making a ridiculous _pew_ sound from his beak. He paused for a moment before looking at Luigi, then at the rest of the Smashers. "This is pretty embarrassing," he admitted.

"Focus!" urged Luigi. "We're-a talking about Lucario's –" "Yeah, got it," Falco cut off the plumber mid-sentence, turning back and solemnly resuming his pose.

After a few seconds, Falco got up, scanning the area for something, muttering.  
If I threw the rifle down, where would it…" As he craned his neck, the other Smashers also tried to look, attempting to find what he was looking for. Even Ganondorf looked slightly worried now, shooting glances here and there in the directions Falco was staring at.

Finally Falco gave a yell of triumph, rushing over to a nearby clump of crates. With extraordinary energy, he kicked the crates apart, resulting in a small cloud of sawdust and coughing fits from everyone. After smoke cloud cleared, everyone watched eagerly at where the crates once were, only to find…

…absolutely nothing.

"Chu?" Pikachu looked up at Falco, a quizzical look on his face.

"Eh, second time's the charm," smiled Falco sheepishly, as he walked over to another suspicious looking pile of crates. "This one's my second choice." When no one made a move, the avian rolled his eyes and sighed. "Do I have to do everything myself?"

Muttering about how he'd already explored one location, Falco got down to work, grumbling and kicking crates aside. It took Fox to remind him that his "work  
involved a running kick and destruction of property before the avian quieted down. Starting to push the crates apart, he reached into the cracks in between, his face contorted as his wing groped about for something people couldn't see. Finally, he gave a grunt, pulling out something long and metallic from underneath a makeshift hiding place under two crates.

"Whoh." Pikachu eyed the long sniper rifle nervously, while even Ganondorf gave it a second look before _tch_ing. Fox looked on in wonder as Falco stared at the weapon, before he quickly – but gently – laid it down on an overturned crate.

Before anyone could protest, Luigi grabbed it in his gloves, holding it up to the light. He scrutinized it for a full minute or so, before declaring, disappointed and shaking his head: "No fingerprints." "No fingerprints?" Falco squawked. "Here – " He took the gun from the plumber, and stared at it with his sharp eyes. But after a long while, he arrived at the same disappointing verdict.

Neither had the search for poisoned peaches gone well. They had flipped the entire Storeroom inside out, but had failed to find any form of poison whatsoever. The remaining peaches had no poison in them, nor had the crate been tampered with.

After a thoroughly disappointing investigation, the Smashers returned to their private rooms, probably to lock themselves up and try to contact the outside world. The morning after Link's death, Fox's phone mysteriously failed to work again. The Star Fox duo took it to pieces trying to figure out what was wrong, but to no avail.

Another thread, snapped.

Things weren't turning out well.

---

And perhaps it was precisely because things weren't going well, things were about to get worse.

Falco stretched a little, then turned to Fox as they were walking back to their rooms. "How about a Brawl?" Fox looked at his teammate quizzically. "At a time like this?"

"Yeah," sighed Falco. "It's been so stressful recently, I can hardly hear myself think. A good Brawl'll clear that up." As Fox mused, Falco slapped him across the back. "Look at you. A ghost of your former self, too. Let's have a go. You want to call the others?"

Fox waved a paw. "Nah. Let's just have a quick one, before night." Falco nodded.

Brawls were conducted in a very interesting manner in the Mansion. The Smashers actually did fight, ruthlessly hacking away at each other with swords and guns and bombs. But the only thing dividing the line between entertainment and dismemberment was the Mansion's game system installed by the Hands.

In a large, empty room, digitally created platforms, objects, non-playable characters and such were created, not real, but physical enough to touch and feel. What this resulted in was an extremely realistic gameplay, with the Smashers actually feeling the ground beneath their feet. In addition, a background was created, setting a perfect tone for Brawls in otherworldly places, effectively "trapping" the Brawlers in the world of the fight.

And as to how they had sustained a no-limbs-chopped-off-yet award, it was another ingenious invention of the Hands. The system granted the Smashers immunity from all attacks physically, rendering them practically invincible to metal or blade or bullet. However, as Master Hand had said once, it cost a lot of energy to operate, and as such it only applied to the arena.

Once a Smasher was knocked out of the arena, a teleportation system would identify the Smasher and quickly teleport him or her back into the fight – or to the Results Room, wherever applicable. This was to prevent them getting hurt once they were outside of the protective bubble in the actual arena.

Distant Planet was always a popular choice for the Star Fox crew. Not only did it bring to mind the image of one of their own "distant planets", but everything was so eerily familiar, from the grassy platforms to the occasional Bulborb, giant snails which patrolled the stage and occasionally swiped off unsuspecting challengers.

"Hands off my ledge, Fox," smirked Falco. Fox, who was hanging onto the ledge by his fingers, quickly swung himself back onto the stage, missing a wide-mouthed Bulborb near him. "You're one to talk, you overgrown turkey," retorted Fox, grinning wolfishly as he delivered a punch to Falco's gut. The bird blanched, but replied with a powerful pummeling, delivering a powerful smash to Fox's side and sent him careening off the arena.

Flames engulfed Fox as he activated his Fire Fox, but unfortunately the attack only propelled him so far, still falling short of the distance needed to grab the ledge. Instead – he realized a little too late – the Fire Fox only caused the vulpine to fall towards the Bulborb, slipping and landing rear-down on its wide tongue.

As he struggled to get upright, he heard the long-drawn whine? howl? groan? of the Bulborb, indicating that it was about to retreat off-stage, spelling defeat for anyone trapped within its mouth – namely, himself. He caught sight of Falco standing at the edge of the ledge, peering as he watched the fate of his friend that he had kicked off. Fox playfully snarled at the avian as he got to his feet, but not in time before the Bulborb snapped its mouth shut and plunged Fox into darkness.

Groaning, Fox waited for the Bulborb to move, bringing him out of the perimeter of the arena. Once he was outside, the game's mechanism should automatically teleport him to safety – either back to the Brawl, or back to Result Room. (_I ain't going to lose yet!_) However, even though he'd been "eaten" several times before, he felt an uneasy twinge in the pit of his stomach this time. Still, he reminded himself that it was only normal in the game, much like the giant fishes near Icicle Mountain.

The Bulborb lurched, as Fox knew it would. It wasn't exactly fun, being in the cramped space of a mouth, so much so that he had to go on all fours just to fit in. When the mouth had closed, all his hard work in trying to stand upright had come to nothing, the roof of the large mouth immediately forcing him to his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for his body to disintegrate into colourful pixels and be teleported away.

It didn't happen.

Fox opened one eye, than the other. He was still trapped within the Bulborb's mouth, only now he suddenly felt the moistness and the warmth, and they were quickly starting to become unbearable. _Strange_, he thought. _Falco must be wondering what's happenin –_

Before he could think any further, the Bulborb lurched to an abrupt halt, almost causing Fox to fall to the side, or to flatten even further against the uncomfortable Bulborb tongue. "What the –" was all he could manage before the air was knocked out of him, leaving him to wheeze a little for breath.

_Glitches_, thought Fox moodily, as he tried to push up the roof of the mouth. Perhaps if the Bulbord could feel it, it'd open its jaws wide enough for him to escape… But no such luck. The jaw remained firmly clamped shut, as the digitally created (_yet extremely realistic_, noted Fox) Bulborb apparently didn't feel a thing at all. In all honesty, he had to give the creator credit for this – it was exceedingly realistic, and that's coming from someone who's trapped in the maw of one of your creations.

"Too bad it's not realistic enough that it actually feels pain," murmured Fox. He started pushing against his fleshly confines in increasingly agitated movements. Gradually, his panic level started to rise as absolutely nothing happened over the course of the next few seconds, and sweat started to trickle down his neck.

But before Fox could whine _How could things get even worse_, he had his answer.

The entire cavern he was in tilted, such that Fox started to slide, frantically trying to grip on to the smooth tongue. The vulpine began to slide towards the gullet, slowly but surely being swallowed by the giant Bulborb. "Wait!" cried Fox, his mind suddenly racing. _This isn't supposed to happen!_

Kicking out with his legs, he tried to fight the force of gravity, but still felt himself losing. His hindpaws suddenly felt the grip of the gullet as he was quickly starting to be pulled into the Bulborb's waiting stomach, his hindpaws quickly disappearing down the giant slug's throat.

"This has got to be a really, really serious glitch –" he yelled out to no one in particular, his paws scrabbling frantically at the back of the tongue, struggling to keep his head. Extending his claws, he tried to stop his slide by digging it into the tongue, but it didn't work either, and he continued his slow, almost inevitable disappearance.

He was frantic now, kicking, struggling, doing all he could to keep himself from being dragged down. All his efforts were failing, and he was slowly but surely losing his strength. Inch by inch his body gave up the fight, surrendering more and more of Fox McCloud down the throat of the beast. In a blink of an eye, his tail and most of his torso had also disappeared from sight, into the murky depths which still continued to pull at him like quicksand.

Grunting and snarling, Fox pointed his muzzle skyward, still not willing to go down without a fight, his forepaws weakly slapping against the unfeeling tongue as if it would help. But increasingly, it seemed like it would come to this, and somehow it just didn't seem right – the great Fox McCloud, having conquered fears, explored planets, and saved lives, would now finally meet his match by being swallowed by a giant snail.

_I'm the next one to go._

Fox gasped for breath, mere seconds before his even his muzzle would lose the fight. Desperately shouting out, one last time, Fox yelled out: "Falco!" – an instant before all his resistance crumbled, and the powerful force pulled him under altogether with a disgustingly wet sound.

---

A split second later, the scenery changed. Fox blinked. The threatening innards of the Bulborb no longer pressed about him, devouring him, but instead he found himself curled up in the fetal position, lying on his side in a clean, white-tiled room. The sticky juices of the Bulborb still clung to his fur and clothes, so unfortunately he couldn't quite kid himself that it was merely a bad ream.

"Fox!" From somewhere drifted Falco's voice, evidently full of relief.

Fox looked up weakly, spying the Control Room in the corner of the Results Room. It had a new giant hole in its glass window, and out of this window hopped Falco, slightly cut and bleeding from smashing through an inch of sharp glass. His teammate stood groggily to his feet, disgustedly examining his soiled clothes.

After peppering Fox with questions and making sure he was alright, Falco suddenly made a face, comically turning his beak away. "Eh, we had better get ya freshened up. Not smelling too good, Fox." Fox groaned, joining his teammate and shuffling back to their rooms.

"You're one to talk," grumbled Fox. "It was your bad idea."

Falco raised his hands in defence. "I was as scared as you, okay?" Fox _tch_ed, snorting disbelievingly. "Yeah, right."

"Fine... I'll make it up to you, see? I'll go get us some food from the Kitchen." Fox nodded silently, suddenly remembered about how hungry he was. However, remembering that he himself was nearly eaten suddenly removed his appetite.

Falco saw Fox hesitate. "Come on, Foxy. Call the rest, too, I'll get something for all of us." Fox finally relented, giving in to the demands of his own stomach. "Fine… I could use a cup of tea." "Ah, but go bathe or something first," Falco smiled, knowing the vulpine's dislike of water. "I don't think they'd accept a dinner invitation from someone who looks as if he woke up on the wrong side of the dumpster."

Fox snarled weakly, but shuffled off to his room, shaking his head in defeat. "Fine, fine… just wait until the next Brawl, then, you." Falco grimaced. "I'll be waiting."

---

_Bang._

The gunshot reverberated throughout the Mansion, chilling its occupants to the bone. There was deathly silence for a couple of seconds, enough for its occupants to realize what was happening, hope for the best, and expect the very worst. The shot came from the direction of the Kitchen…

…then there was a loud shout, Falco's voice colored with unreadable emotion, trembling a little as there was the click of a gun.

"You!"

What happened next was immediate.

Multiple gunshots echoed, accompanied by the jarring sound of glass breaking. It was as if a fountain of glass had toppled on its side, breaking into pieces in a grotesque melody and scattering its pieces all over the floor. The glass's final song continued long after the gunshots ended, but everything was still over in a couple of seconds.

The final glass tinkled to the ground sounded like ice.

There was the slam of a door.

"The Kitchen!" shouted Fox, as he ran through the hallways, Blaster in his paw. Having tried to delay bathing as long as he could, he had sat around the room, waiting for Falco to come back with food. But now, he hadn't even bothered to change out of his slimy clothes, his paws thudding heavily across the ground. His ears picked up the _thud-thud-thud_ of another set of feet, and he rounded the corner to see Luigi stumbling across the corridor.

Without bothering to look back, Fox dashed ahead, his quick running speed helping him to dash his way there as quickly as possible, with Falco's life on his mind. Fast on his heels was Pikachu, panting slightly, while he could hear the heavy _thumps_ of Ganondorf way behind them. Strangely enough, he heard a different set of _thump_ing in the distance…

But he reached there first, gripping his knees and panting heavily. Pikachu screeched to a halt, bumping into his forepaws. The other two reached moments later, both panting and obviously out of breath. The Kitchen door swung slightly ajar, and something clicked immediately in Luigi's mind. "Didn't we hear the door slam shut?"

"I – wait – I don't know," murmured Fox. Suddenly reminded of something, he changed the topic. "Did any of you hear any strange sounds just now? Like footsteps…" Fox swiveled his ears for emphasis, but the ghostly footsteps had long since stopped before he had reached the Kitchen.

Ganondorf snorted. "Here are four of us running, and the fox asks if we heard footsteps."

Feeling thoroughly ashamed, and blaming his painfully oversensitive ears, he hesitantly pushing the door open, his Blaster held out in front of him, in case the murderer was still in the room. It swung open, but there was no one inside.

What it revealed, however, was utter carnage.

The basic structure of the Kitchen was still there, but pots and pans were strewed all over the floor. As expected, the cups and glassware were gone, and shards of glass were scattered everywhere across the floor, glittering in the failing light of day, as if daring the Smashers to step into the room of death. Blackened marks were all over the place, testament to some kind of battle that had gone on beforehand.

In the corner was Falco's Blaster, blackened and decommissioned, seemingly destroyed by a violent blow, sparking and crackling slightly in electricity. The last hours of day cast a gloomy, eerie shadow across the room, yet somehow managed to bathe everything in a sickening twinge of red.

And the thing that stopped Fox dead in his tracks were clumps of blue feathers sparingly scattered across the room.

But something was wrong somewhere. The air attacked Fox's nose, causing his muzzle to twitch involuntarily. Pikachu sniffed the air once, then twice, and then his eyes widened in shock as he reeled backwards.

"Pikaa! Pikaaa!" The little Pokémon wailed, clinging onto Luigi's pant leg for dear life. All the Smashers' attention were suddenly diverted to the mouse Pokémon, who was beside himself with tears and acting extremely nervously, trying to drag Luigi out of the room, then letting go as if he couldn't bear to do it.

"What!" Fox demanded, his voice suddenly choked. By now even Ganondorf was sniffing the air, a puzzled expression on his face. Staring past all of them into the Kitchen, Pikachu wailed and clung and _pointed_.

But even before he looked, the odd smell of the air finally registered in Fox's brain. As he turned to follow Pikachu's gaze, his eyes alighted upon the still-functional oven, built into the Kitchen wall, next to a shattered mirror, a couple of blue feathers were stuck in between the oven doors, caught just as the oven door had slammed shut.

Fox's mind raced, his eyes widening. _The thumps_, he whispered to himself. _Those weren't footsteps._

The oven door was a door that slammed shut. And it was a door that couldn't be opened from _the inside_.

"Gas!" cried Luigi, scrambling backwards, Pikachu releasing his grip on his legs and falling backwards onto the floor. "Gas leak!"

---

"_Coo, this place even has an oven!" Falco nodded approvingly. Fox rolled his eyes. "What do you care? You can't even cook." They were on their tour of the Mansion, in the first couple of days after arriving for the tournament.__ Unlike Lucario, the curious Star Fox crew invited themselves on an exploratory hunt around the Mansion, discovering many odd storerooms and locations along the way._

"_Hey," Falco put up a wing defensively. "You never know, right? Who knows, I just might be able to, then I'd whoop your sorry packet of dried rations."_

_Fox snorted, reaching over to pop open the oven anyway. New, it almost sparkled like in the advertisements. Falco stuck his head inside, muttering away to himself. "Impressive. It's really very big… the Great Fox could use one of this. Make notes."_

"_Yeah, we could stuff a couple of Smashers inside," Fox joked. Falco stared at him, horrified. Slightly unnerved by Falco's gaze, Fox stuttered his way to words. "Hey – I – what? Don't stare at me like that! It's – it's just a joke – I –"_

"_I'm really scared, Fox," whispered Falco. Then suddenly, he leaned over and practically hollered into Fox's sensitive ears, his beak mere inches away from the fox's head._

"_Have ya finally gone blind? Or lost all perception of size? Ya think that penguin from Dededeland or Bowser could fit into that? Eh? Eh?" Falco turned away in mock disgust. "Honestly, with vision like that, I'm not letting you anywhere near my Arwing."_

_Fox's heart skipped a beat, although it now started up again, a trickle of cold sweat running down his face. "Never do that again," he growled playfully. Then, adopting a serious tone, he scratched the chin thoughtfully, while still staring at the oven. "Still, we could make a good Kirby roast with this."_

"_Yeah," came Falco's voice, strange and hollow as he half-buried himself in the fridge, trying to find if there was any chicken. Popping out his head from his raid, and grinning at the Fox, he added, "And at the same time, you could make a perfect side dish."_

_Waving a paw, Fox laughed it off. "Ha. If I get fat enough you won't be able to fit me in at all. I'd better start bulking up. Give me that chicken." Falco laughed as the vulpine took the featherless chicken from his wings, pretending to be smelling it in a mock display of ultimate pleasure and enjoyment. "So, Foxie, I guess the lean, mean me is going to be on the menu then, eh?"_

_---_

"Falco!" Fox yelled, dashing across the room. The smell of flammable gas stung his nostrils, but the vulpine ran anyway. The oven door was tinted black, so one couldn't see inside, but now that he was looking at it, there was an unmistakable shadow of something within it – that wasn't moving.

His mind locked up, and Fox tripped over his own feet, sprawling onto the floor of shattered glass. Yelling as the little shards dug into his fur, Fox pulled himself up, scrambling in his haste and getting more cuts. His left paw slipped, sending him crashing back into the ground once more, yelping in pain, one-eyed reflections of him staring from shards on the ground.

"Not-a on my watch," came a sudden voice behind him. Fox felt a grip on his collar, yanking him backwards as Luigi hurried to get out of the way. Pikachu stood outside the room, watching nervously in as his eyes trained on the timer on the oven.

"Get off me!" Fox yelled, violently snatching Luigi's hand from his collar. "There's still time!" Now that they had both struggled upright, Luigi suddenly lurched forward a grabbed Fox by his scarf.

"No there isn't!" The Italian yelled into Fox's face, then violently pushed him – almost threw him – clear out of the room, Fox hitting the floor and tumbling the rest of the way out before his mind even registered what had happened. Luigi leaped, covering half of the distance between him and the exit with one step, even as Pikachu cried out a warning.

As Luigi skidded into the corridor, Fox pushed past him, trying to get back. Luigi shoved back, causing Fox to trip over Pikachu, landing muzzle-down right outside of the Kitchen. As Pikachu tried to squirm free, Luigi yelled out a warning as he bolted to the side, opposite Ganondorf. "I warned you, Fox!"

The timer swept past the last second on its clock, its continual progression suddenly halted as it came to a full stop. As if they expected it, the four Smashers suddenly turned to look at the oven, across the sea of glass.

_Ding_.

…

…nothing happened.

Suddenly the oven exploded, igniting all the gas in the Kitchen. For a split second the Smashers saw the entire Kitchen go up in flames, the glimmering tongues of flame suddenly appearing out of nowhere and leaping from wall to wall. The oven itself disappeared in a bright blaze of light, but something charred violently spilled from its door before it was too consumed in a burst of flame.

They then saw no more, as the blast slammed the Kitchen door shut squarely in their faces. Behind it they heard the muffled _boom_ of the explosion and the searing heat that even penetrated the thick door. Fire shot out from the gap between the door and the floor, setting the small carpet outside ablaze. But all in all, the door had saved the Smashers from the worst of the blast.

Ignoring the little crackles of fire singing his fur, Fox drunkenly got to his feet. "Falco - !" he yelled, screaming at the door. He made to open it, but in his hurry and haste the doorknob slipped from his grasp and burned his paw badly. To add insult to injury, Ganondorf suddenly delivered a blow, knocking Fox to the floor.

"You imbecile," the King of Evil hissed. "You nearly got us all killed, you understand?"

Fox garbled something inarticulate, but ended with "Falco!", falling silent while the fur around his eyes suddenly became moistened.

Luigi wordlessly put out the small carpet's fire by stamping on it. Sighing, he took off his plumber's hat, holding it over his chest with both gloved hands. After a moment, he doffed it once again, allowing it to shadow most of his face. Walking over, he offered a hand to Fox, helping him up.

Ganon remained silent, deep in thought.

Pikachu sobbed openly, sitting down and refusing to move. With a melancholy sigh, Fox reached down and picked up the Pokémon, carrying it in his paws. His tail drooped as the contingent of four Smashers slowly made their way back to the Lounge.

"Yeah, I miss him too."

**Fox****. **_Falco. _**Ganondorf. **_Link. __Lucario._** Luigi. **_Peach._** Pikachu.**


	5. Snap

**Hello all.**

**Many t****hanks goes out to Twilight Smash, Souldin, lupyne, Shadsie, NinjaSheik, Shadow Blues, Snowest, Dusk-N-Dawn and Pikachu127! Thank you for your comments and kind words…**

**Only two chapters remain now. Chapter Six will mark the**** beginning of the end, but I promise you Chapter Seven will have enough action to keep you busy. More calls for the murderer's identity! The next chapter will be the final call for votes – and remember, if at the end, I don't have any correct guesses –**

**Murderer****  
****Twilight Smash: **Luigi  
**Souldin:** Fox or Pikachu  
**lupyne: **Fox or Pikachu  
**Shadsie:** Luigi?  
**Shadow Blues:** Luigi  
**Dusk-N-Dawn:** Pikachu  
**Pikachu127:** Luigi or Ganondorf

**So ****far, Pikachu is leading in the polls with 5 votes, followed by Fox with 4, Luigi with 3, **_Falco_** and Ganondorf both with 2 each. That's a lot of names. I'm really grateful so many people are taking an interest in this little fic –**

**Next death****  
****Souldin: **Ganondorf  
**lupyne:** Ganondorf or Pikachu?  
**Shadow Blues:** Fox or Ganondorf  
**Dusk-N-Dawn:** Pikachu

**Once again, ****all deaths are planned beforehand and your votes don't actually affect the outcome. Just very curious about your opinion – and honestly, it also helps to stop your boredom! Seriously! Again I insist it's one of the Smashers... This chapter is relatively short, but I promise you, the ending chapters will be much more packed - Unfortunately I will probably taking an extended break, so it'll be maybe a month before the next chapter's out.**

**I'm very interested in how you might find the characters (Suspicious? Not suspicious?**** Too transparent?) through the chapters because to be honest there were a lot of readings that I couldn't have even predicted. I'd really like to hear from you what you think of the characters.**

**Will there be any survivors? ...if I told you yes/no/who, the scary people who wrote my contract will come over and kill me. So, sorry, that's not going to be answered today – but hey, it's only two more chapters.**

**Once again, thank you very much, and I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story –**

**hawk**

_---_

Cheers – Chapter Five

Fox carried Pikachu in his arms, rocking him as he would a little baby. He had remained unflinching, uncrying, trying to put on a solid front for the little rodent. Pikachu had sunken his muzzle into the pilot's flight jacket, staining it wet with his tears. Gradually, with Fox wordlessly rocking him, the Pokémon, murmuring, mumbling, sobbing, gradually fell asleep.

Strange how Pikachu had formed such an attraction to them. Perhaps it was the fact that they weren't exactly like the others in the Mansion, but then again the Smashers were a cast of misfits and oddities. Where were anthromorphic creatures supposed to stand? The three of them had been rather close together, ever since –

The fox glanced down at the electric mouse in his arms. He was asleep, curled up into a ball in the fetal position, long tail wrapped about the small body. The Pokémon was very popular in the mansion, being very popular with the kiddie Smashers especially – but another Pokémon wasn't so well received. Pikachu tried to get this particular Smasher to open up, but to little avail.

_Opening up was weak_, so he'd claim. To rely on others meant to open oneself up to vulnerabilities. Obviously, Pikachu had disagreed, tugging on the end of his tail as he thought of a comeback. Ironically enough, Pikachu had caused the Smasher to eat his own words, as both of them slowly warmed to each other as friends.

It started over training. Gradually they became sparring partners, fighting together and watching their expertise and experience increase. Then it progressed from there to outside the Training Rooms, Pikachu dragging the reluctant Smasher along to meet the others for lunch or for a quick snack, arranging Brawls and games.

Eventually, towards the end of the tournament, he knew he had finally succeeded. It was a little bit at first, but gradually, bit by bit, the coldly polite conversations gave way to a small smile, the small ones to wolfish grins, a glimmer in his eyes, and then a _laugh_.

It was only after the final banquet that Pikachu saw the final fruit of his efforts. He was describing his epic leap from the near-top of the Hall, how he successfully stole Link's food from under the Hylians' noses, and was describing the hilarious expressions on their faces. He had laughed then, a short bark, and Pikachu joined in with his cheerful chirps. He nuzzled his snout into Lucario's shoulder.

The hour that he died, no one saw Pikachu.

But everyone heard him. From his room in the heart of the Mansion, crying as if the sniper had blown a hole through his heart instead. Pikachu's room was locked and bolted from within, but even then his wails issued from behind the wooden door.

Ironically, Lucario was right all along – the more you open up your heart, the easier it is to get hurt.

Fox silently put down the sleeping Pikachu onto his bed, watching the mouse curl up. After a couple of seconds, he shuffled out of the room, closed the door, crossing the corridor back to his own dormitory. As he laid his paw on the door handle, he happened to glance over to the door next to it. Falco's door was closed, tightly shut.

For a second he waited at his door, waiting for the familiar blue-feathered image to walk past. Then as per normal, the avian would shoot him a wry, sarcastic comment, before closing the door to see him the next morning, bright and early, impatiently tapping his foot and waiting for the fox to finish brushing his fur. "Heads in the clouds again, McCloud," he would gruffly remark, before dragging the vulpine down to breakfast.

He waited at the door for a couple of seconds. No bird walked past. No cocky teammate, no accented voice. No playful clap on the back or even the sight of his flight jacket, the brother to his own. No Falco Lombardi.

A full half-minute passed.

Fox slammed open the door, falling heavily on his bed, letting the door close slowly behind him, until the soft _click_ echoed in the room.

---

_It was the dream again. The very same dream. Except now it was a little __complete, a little more extended, and a whole lot more terrifying._

_It was the same table. The same teapot. The same faint whiff of tea in the air as Fox moved mindlessly. He stumbled a bit as he walked, and instinctively tried to catch himself. Numbly, he noted that the chair was slowly rotting, as if it was about to fall apart. Nevertheless, as he rested its weight on it, it creaked and groaned but still held._

_He tried to flick his tail experimentally, but nothing happened. Nothing seemed to be in his control now. Spiralling out of control._

_And like before, the black, unseeing, unknown mass hovered in the seat opposite him, like judge and jury in one at the opposite side of the table. The faint smell of tea and almonds floated about lazily in the air, the smell getting stronger and stronger until it was almost unbearable. It was almost as if he was being judged, so great was the nameless authority that the fox couldn't even move a muscle. _

_The gun floated up, in front of the ghostl__y image, and pointed its barrel, unflinchingly, straight into Fox's face._

BAM.

Fox yelled, waking with a start, wildly swinging out all four paws as he struggled to sit up. All his fur bristled, his eyes immediately wide open. His hand groped for his Blaster, but in his haste he fumbled and dropped it, the gun falling off his low bed and spinning into the dark corners of his room.

Nothing happened.

Fox blinked once, suddenly aware of his surroundings. His room door had slammed itself shut, and he heard footsteps quickly fading into the distance outside his door. In his confused, just-awakened state of mind, it took a while for the fox to process anything, leaving him sitting in bed with his jaw open for a good few seconds.

In an instant he realized how vulnerable he was. Asleep in his own room, the door ajar and unlocked. Anyone could have just come in and slit his throat. Or, as it seemed more likely, kill him in a more grotesque and horrifying way.

But he was still alive, grasping and feeling at the fur around his neck, breathing too heavily, but still alive. The door rattled in its place, the sound dying away.

_A foiled attempt?_

Shaking his head, he felt it. Patting his head, he found it strangely comforting that he was still alive. Somehow still alive. He bit his lip, relishing the small twinge that travelled through to his head.

Somehow, staying alive now became a privilege. Something the other Smashers no longer enjoyed. The thought of it – three boxes, lying side by side in a makeshift cemetery that no one dared to enter. The very thought of it chilled Fox, making him resolve never to go down to the Great Hall again. And then what happened yesterday –

Fox paused. Yesterday –

No one had dared to go back into the Kitchen. Not Luigi, not Pikachu – definitely not. Ganondorf had flatly refused, ignoring any question and immersing himself in his tome, reading faster and faster, his eyes eating up the pages as he reached the end of his book. Whatever it is, it held a strange and near-complete command over Ganondorf's attention. Sometimes Fox wondered what the ancient tome was, but as it was all written in an unintelligible script (_Hylian?_ thought Fox) he would have been better guessing Peach's age.

Peach. Now a-lying in a cold box in the corner of the Mansion's Hall, beautiful face covered with a wooden lid. Which brought his train of thought back on track with a shuddering screech.

Next to the three coffins, there was now a fourth. And because no one now dared to step on the same floor as the Kitchen, it remained empty, devoid of any physical occupant. However, empty or not, whenever Fox saw it in his mind's eye, it still drove back the same sense of loss, pain and even guilt – even more, that his own teammate had been… reduced to something that couldn't even be properly put to rest.

He felt the bile rising in his throat.

---

One of them. It had to be one of them.

One by one by one possibilities dropped. Theories extinguished. Who was left? And who was it? Like flies dropping one by one by one by one.

It was like a game of chess – not only did you have to have raw power, but also cunning strategy. Deceiving, concealing, striking when one least expected it. Just because a piece was next to the other doesn't mean one could be captured – and just because a fellow Smasher sat next to you, eating, didn't mean that he or she was innocent.

Time was running out. The goal of the game was to stay alive, and increasingly, Smashers failed to meet that goal, and were eliminated with extreme prejudice. It was a race against the clock more than anything, and the clock in the room ticked on, the ticks echoing hollowly in the room; the sand in the hourglass below it flowed strangely, jumping, alternatively fast and slow, but still flowing, flowing, flowing, and sooner or later there will be nothing left.

Clues. There had to be clues. Hidden. One or two or three or more, subtle clues that everyone had missed. They knew they missed something, that something somewhere didn't feel quite right. Something didn't fit. But what?

One of them was lying. And in this situation no one could be judged simply by their looks alone, or by merely the superficial.

One of them. It had to be one of them.

Who?

---

Fox pushed open the door to the Lounge. Avoiding the large table where they used to sit, he walked slowly to a smaller, square table in the corner. Recently they've been using that table more, for their meals and for their meetings, but no one ever questioned it and no one wanted to move back to the large table.

It remained empty, the chairs pulled half-in, half-out. Fox knew if they had sat there, more than half of the original seats would be empty. He didn't quite know how to stomach that – and apparently, neither could the other Smashers. So they had contented themselves with sitting at a smaller, square table, immersing themselves in their won little world and desperately trying to pretend nothing had happened.

Already seated at the small table was Ganondorf. He was immersed in his book, as always seemed to be the case. He barely acknowledge the fox as he entered, merely flicking his eyes to one side before returning to his book without so much as a grunt. Fox shrugged, walking over to the cupboard and opening it up.

"Hm. Canned food, tinned food, canned food, tuna, canned food…" Fox mumbled to himself as he counted the cans. "Joy," he mumbled. "Just like being back on a ship when actual food's a distant memory." No sooner when the words left his mouth, his mind immediately pictured Falco complaining about the rations, his voice resounding in his ears. Sighing, he picked a can off the shelf at random, then read the label, hoping for –

"Chicken." He bit his lip.

Grabbing a couple more tins, he shuffled over to the sink to get a can opener, then shuffled all the way back to the table. As he sat down, he noticed that Ganondorf actually had some fruit, and was popping pieces of fruit into his mouth as he read, taken from a central plate of fruit in the middle of the table.

Just as he was about to question the Gerudo, the door slammed open, startling its occupants. Luigi and Pikachu appeared in the doorway, a little scared by the sudden noise they had made. Luigi glanced at Pikachu, nodding knowingly, before walking away, his back towards the rest of the Smashers. "Pika…" the Pokémon nodded in Fox's direction, before slowly making his way to the table. Fox noted with mild curiousity that Pikachu was wearing his favourite blue goggles, strapped neatly across his forehead. The slightly oversized goggles made the mouse look like a little pilot. Just like a pilot -

Luigi went over to the sink to get a cup of tea, mumbling something to himself under his breath, looking furtively in the direction of the other Smashers. Picking up the slightly-chipped teapot, he poured himself a cup of the strong brew. Picking up a few tins and a plate, he read the labels to himself, mumbling something incoherent in Italian. Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders, returning to the table with the delicate pink teacup and took a long sip, relishing the comforting taste of the tea, staring occasionally at Fox, then at Ganondorf.

"Hey, where's my tea?"

Luigi glared at Fox. "I-a _knew_ it."

Pikachu hopped onto his seat, but sank bank into his chair, not touching the table, all cheerful demeanor gone. As the Smashers started eating, the mouse just stared into space, wordlessly, silently. Noticing this, Fox leaned over, calling the Pokémon.

Hearing his name, Pikachu perked up his ears slightly, turning over to Fox. "Hey, little fella. Not hungry?" Pikachu shook his head. Fox speared a small vegetable with his fork, holding it out to Pikachu. The little rodent obstinately clamped his mouth shut, sliding backwards on his chair away from Fox, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Come on," Fox urged, waving the fork in front of Pikachu's unwilling face. "You got to eat something." "Chu." He didn't speak Pokémon, but if anything the crossed arms and the vaguely irritated expression on Pikachu's face made his stance quite clear to Fox.

Sighing, Fox placed the fork on his plate with a clatter. Getting out of his seat, he knelt in front of Pikachu's so that he was eye-level with the Pokémon. "Cha?" Pikachu eyed him warily as he approached, opening one eye to observe the fox. Fox, however, smiled slightly, holding Pikachu gently under his armpits and lifting him bodily into the air.

Pikachu weakly protested, sparks feebly emitting from his cheeks. Fox didn't flinch, but glanced at Pikachu with a knowing eye. "I know Lucario told you not to eat too much… but you still have to. That's what he'd want from you, hm?" Pikachu became quiet, stopping his struggles, while the rest of the table looked on with mild interest. Pikachu looked away from Fox, but even then he could see the small reflection off a tear in the Pokémon's eye.

"We've got to move on. He wouldn't want you to just stop eating and give up hope now, yeah?" Fox gave a cursory glance around the table, which by now had collectively focused their attention on them. "None of us would." Fox murmured, gently shaking Pikachu back and forth. There was a whisper of agreement behind him, and Fox assumed it was Luigi.

"Got it?" "Chu." "Good boy." Fox smiled weakly at Pikachu, who smiled back and hopped out of his grasp and onto the table.

As if unsure of what to do, the Pokémon stared around the table, not knowing where exactly to go. Fox ruffled the Pokémon's head lightly, Pikachu hastily wiping his eyes dry on a nearby napkin, sniffing slightly. "Hey. Lighten up. Have some food." Fox nodded towards the Pokémon, who stared back up at him.

Slowly, a wolfish grin spread over Pikachu's face, unnerving Fox a little. With a sudden movement, the mouse snatched his fork and swiftly darted over to Fox's plate. The clatter of dinner suddenly stopped as every other Smasher's eyes turned to Pikachu, who was hovering the little metal spear over Fox's plate.

Fox's green eyes widened. His heart skipped a beat. He knew he was too far away to do anything, having turned his back to his seat when he was talking to Pikachu. The rodent was two steps ahead of him.

"No. No. No, no, no, no, no. Bad boy."

Pikachu grinned. The paw holding the fork quivered, and was lifted slightly higher. Fox's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"He would," Ganondorf added dryly.

_Stab._

Fox flinched, his ears flattening involuntarily, his paws instinctively jumping up to protect himself as if from a blow. He opened his eyes (just realizing that he had squeezed them shut at the last minute), dropping his paws to his side. There was a complete silence as Pikachu slowly – and deliberately – lifted the fork, showing off his prize, his dastardly deed complete.

Pikachu playfully twirled the last piece of chicken in Fox's face, grinning at the fox's obviously exasperated expression.

"I wanted that piece, too…"

The table broke out into lighthearted laughter. Fox slumped back into his seat in mock defeat, prompting Pikachu to tiptoe back, across the table, and attempt to gently slide the piece of meat back onto the vulpine's plate. Chuckling, Fox waved him away, letting the Pokémon escape with his plunder.

The Smashers resumed eating, the atmosphere significantly lightened. Somehow, there seemed to be a small strand of hope, out of the seemingly impossible circumstances. Nothing that Fox said or did had actually helped them to get rid of their fears, but it somehow felt better, like a small weight had been lifted from their heavy hearts.

Perhaps there was hope after all.

Luigi slurped his soup noisily, the teacup forgotten on the table, only half-full with the sweet-smelling tea, trying to establish conversation with Ganondorf. Ganondorf, on the other hand, silently picked at his food, his attention half on his ancient book that he never seemed to stop reading. Once in a while he would flip a page, arch his eyebrows and continue reading, popping pieces of food into his mouth once in a while.

Sighing, Fox picked up his spoon, idly twirling it in his paw. Luigi, giving up on the King of Evil actually replying, turned his attention to Fox and Pikachu instead. As Fox scooped something from his plate, thinking of a reply to Luigi, Pikachu had just stepped up to the central plate, sniffing the food curiously. The rodent sniffed his food a little, as he always did, trying to detect any trace of poison in it. The mouse reached over, ready to take a piece of food –

He hesitated, paws hovering over a lone peach on the plate. His ears drooped slightly, and he changed his mind, swiftly picking up a nearby apple instead.

There was a crack.

Pikachu looked up, curious, apple still on paw. The sound seemed to come from right above him, but he couldn't be sure. Around him the conversation continued, uninterrupted. A ear raised in surprise, and he curiously sniffed the air.

"Ch-"

The ceiling split open. All of a sudden, a gaping tear appeared, cracking the ceiling open as if it was no more than paper, large gaping tears widening all the way across the length of the Lounge. It was accompanied by an ear-splittingly grating sound, the sound of thousands of nails on a blackboard, and a sudden, unexpected, bright metallic ring.

The cause of this was immediately obvious. From the ceiling fell a hefty metallic bar, the length of Ganondorf and as thick as Dedede's hammer. It rang once as it hit something unseen, causing scratching, splitting sounds as it broke from the ceiling, to land squarely on the table with a sickly _snap_. It struck Fox a glancing blow, immediately throwing him to a side and bringing him to the ground on all fours. The side of the table it landed on collapsed with a deafening _crunch _from the sheer force, disappearing in a cloud of wood and dust.

The dishes and plates – those that were not immediately pulverized out of existence – were flung violently in the air, sending pieces and shrapnel flying. Luigi cried out as a red line suddenly appeared across his cheek, while Fox winced and grabbed his wrist in pain. Ganondorf had the presence of mind to hold up the book as a shield, several large shards burying themselves deep within its pages. The crashing and smashing sounds still continued to attack their ears, a loud _clang_ as the metal bar hit the floor, gradually dying away to the light _patter-patter_ of debris falling and broken glass groaning.

All this happened in a mere fraction of a second.

As the dust slowly settled, the Smashers looked at each other, warily, unknowingly. It was so surreal, it was almost dreamlike and uncertain. Then suddenly, at the same time, the same thought entered their minds.

"…Pikachu?"

As if on cue, the remains of the table groaned. Standing on three of its original four legs, a corner of the table had caved in, smashed in by the sheer weight of the bar. Hidden from sight, what could lie there, just barely out of sight, played radical and nightmarish tricks on their imagination. And when the tension had reached its boiling point, the remaining three legs gave out with a whine.

The table slammed flat onto the ground, giving up the good fight against gravity. The remaining pieces of cutlery and whatnot dropped with it, clattering to the ground with the noise of steel and silver and shattered glass. Another apple, red as red could be, rolled away from the table on its side, leaving a shaky trail of crimson in its path across the floor. It continued rolling, eventually bumping into a wall with a dull bump and leaving a reddish vague imprint before finally coming to a halt.

The metal bar was flat against the ground, solid, hefty, majestic and simply just there. It must have been one of the support beams in the Mansion's skeleton, and was therefore designed to be heavy, durable, and unstoppable. Nothing had impeded its progress from its fall from the ceiling to the ground. Nothing. Not the plates, not even the table.

Not Pikachu.

Behind the bar, a bent tail curved upwards, once yellow and brown but now splattered all over with dark crimson. Slowly, as they looked, it flopped lifelessly to the side, limply falling to the ground without as much as a wet slap.

In the middle of all the fragments of wood and silvers of glass was a metal bar, most of it shining silver but parts of its base curiously coloured. Protruding out of the side closer to them were the crushed remains of an apple, once loosely held by a bloody paw. Half of a body showed from the far end of the bar, the lifeless tail steeped deep in blood. The old goggles had disappeared under the weight of the bar.

Luigi fell backwards on his rear, rendered completely and utterly speechless. The vulpine staggered backwards, leaning heavily on something for support. He was breathing heavily, taking in deep yet measured breaths. Ganondorf simply stared, mute, unflinching, even as his book lay on the ground with daggers sticking out of its back.

See food. Take food.

_Snap._

_Mousetrapped. _Fox mouthed, gripping onto the chair for support.

**Fox****. **_Falco. _**Ganondorf. **_Link. __Lucario._** Luigi. **_Peach. __Pikachu._


	6. The Calm Before The Storm

**Hello all.**

**Apologies to Shadow Blues for being a couple of months late.**

**First off, thank you to all readers and reviewers! You've made **_**Cheers**_** my most reviewed fic yet – even though it's not even complete yet... Many thanks to Twilight Smash, lupyne, Shadsie, Carito-fox, Shadow Blues, SapphireDrakon, NinjaSheik, Snowest, Dusk-N-Dawn, Pikachu127, Souldin, and yellowfire7.**

**Sorry for taking such a long time to upload this chapter. ****This chapter will be the last chance to guess at the identity of the murderer. Additional points for guessing the motive! The current votes stand as such:**

**Twilight Smash: **Luigi  
**lupyne:** Luigi  
**Carito-fox: **Luigi  
**Shadow Blues:** Luigi?  
**SapphireDrakon: **Ganondorf  
**Pikachu127:** Luigi  
**Souldin:** Fox  
**yellowfire7: **Luigi?, Ganondorf?

**Also, this chapter may be a little short, but I assure you that this is merely the short calm before the storm. Thank you for all your support and I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed the ride so far!**

**h****awk**

**---**

Cheers – Chapter Six

Fox cursed as he staggered backwards, releasing his hold on the chair. He absentmindedly looked at his paw, finding it streaked with little lines of red, slowly growing. The blow dealt by the ridiculously large mousetrap had sprayed shrapnel more than what seemed to be possible, hitting the crystal bowl of fruit in the middle of the table squarely. The resulting explosion had splintered the bowl and sent impossible fragments in all directions of the room.

Fox glanced over at Luigi. As if drawn by an invisible marker, red lines started to appear across exposed skin, faintly at first, then slowly becoming more and more solid, more and more visible, until it started to leak in little rivulets from his face. Little cuts suddenly appeared in his overalls, little nicks against blue and green fabric. The growing look on Luigi's face seemed to tell Fox that the same thing was happening to him.

Sure enough, he felt a little prickling sensation across his back, tail, all four paws, and from all over his face. It was as if his entire body had suddenly went numb. But as he was, he was high on adrenalin at the moment, and his mind barely registered anything more than a slight numbness.

Ganondorf slowly bent to the ground, picking up his book from the ground, its ancient pages half-stabbed by long pieces of glass and shrapnel. He murmured under his breath, flipping through its fragile, yellowed pages. His eyes widened as he carried on, sharp breaths at each new hole, each new painful tear in between each character. Somehow the King of Evil didn't feel the jolts from the shards in his sides, where shrapnel pierced in between the chinks of armour.

"Marooned," he murmured, and Fox's ears twitched as he heard it. "Marooned." So saying, he lightly dropped the book onto a nearby table, as if afraid to hold it any longer.

As it hit the solid table, the book shattered. A small puff of shredded pages blew up lightly into the air, floating all around the still figure. Through it was punctured multiple shards, some even large enough to pierce through the entire book. Countless smaller pieces ripped their way halfway through the last few pages in the book, each destroying a Hylian character or two when they lodged in between the pages. The last couple of pages, those closest to the arrows of glass when they hit, appeared completely undecipherable.

"Marooned," Ganondorf whispered again.

He shakily held the book, stepped backward, then disappeared out of the room.

The two other Smashers quickly left with him. Not that they were following him, but any reason was reason enough to get out of the cursed room. They made excuses for themselves in their mind, then hurriedly left the room, taking great care to close the door behind them. Pikachu's body remained hidden underneath the heavy metal bar.

Five paces away, Luigi suddenly stopped, causing Fox to run into the plumber's back. Luigi whirled around on the apologizing fox, catching his eye. "Follow me," he suddenly decided, gripping Fox by the collar and pulling him down the corridor. Fox protested – obviously – snatching Luigi's thin hand away from his scarf. "I'll walk myself," he snarled, but fell in line behind Luigi as they quickly ran down the endless corridors. Ahead of them, they heard a door slam.

Eight doors later, they stood outside Ganondorf's room. It was a nondescript, normal door – just like the rest of theirs. However, from underneath this door came a vague, slightly unpleasant smell. It reminded Fox of the time Arwing motors overheated, and Luigi of the time Peach left her batch of tea a-boiling while talking to Daisy.

They looked at each other, then nodded. Together they pressed lightly on the door of the room, and surprisingly enough, it gave way. It appeared that the King of Evil was somehow so preoccupied and so driven that he had simply entered his room, not even bothering to lock his door. The normal, wooden door swung open with a creak.

Behind it was a room drenched in an eerie twilight, coming from the dying lights on smoldering candles. The candles were what gave off the faintly smoky smell and filled the room with a thin fog, but strangely enough, even though they burned the candles didn't seem to diminish or melt away. They were arranged in a roughly circular shape, with glowing lines sketched between them, forming part of an intricate pattern. Around the pattern were strange markings, angular curved gashes struck into the very floor at set, precise angles.

These markings continued around the circle, but they stopped at a point more than halfway across. Looking closely, the duo noticed that the markings got less and less intricate, the details of the circles and shapes inscribed within were less and less prominent. At a few points they disappeared completely, leaving disconcerting patches of… nothing… in between glowing streaks of light.

The circle was incomplete.

And seated outside of it was Ganondorf, his back towards them, hunched over and obviously in a distressed state. Poring over the remains of the destroyed book, he slowly and agonizingly read one character at a time, gritting his teeth in obvious frustration. He didn't hear the door open.

"Ganon," Luigi murmured. Ganon didn't hear.

"Ganon," The plumber raised his voice. Ganon evidently heard him this time around, because he whipped around, sending most of the things on his table smashing to the floor in a tremendous swipe. Potions and other unidentified objects clattered to the ground, creating colourful splashes and weird vapour clouds where they hit. Strangely enough, the book stayed where it was. From where he was, Fox saw that a few shards had been carefully removed, although they left holes where words once were – and there were still a lot of shards embedded in the book.

One of Ganon's hands was curled into a fist, glowing with an unearthly purplish light, but when he saw who the intruders were he relaxed it slightly, the light dimming down into nothingness. His stance softened somewhat, but his face carried the expression of someone who had been expecting the full force of the alien invasion but instead received complaints from a ticked-off squirrel: certainly not what he was expecting, but still had incredibly heart-stopping tension.

He bared his teeth. "_What_."

The duo stepped back a little, nearly kicking over a candle in the process. A vein in the Gerudo's neck bulged, but he held his tongue.

Eventually Fox stepped forward. "You did it, didn't you?" he whispered, even as his eyes travelled across the arcane symbols and other unknowns in the room. "You're the butcher." Fox's eyes glanced back at the King for his reaction, his green eyes gleaming. Ganondorf's reaction was singular.

He laughed.

Ganondorf laughed a loud, hearty laugh, the loudest noise anyone had heard out of him since the sorry series of events had begun. He laughed, clutched his midsection, doubled over, until he re-straightened his back, arching it back into place. Still laughing, he slowly brought up a single finger and pretended to flick away a tear from his eye in extremely exaggerated fashion.

Eventually he stopped, glaring at the fox.

"Is that all? Look here, furry," he sneered – even as Fox's ears flattened and he hissed – "even if I _were_ your precious killer, would I admit it? Is it within my interests to confess, before you, you do what to me? Take me down with your bare fists?" Ganondorf mocked. Then, turning his gaze to Luigi – "Or what if it's pretty boy here? Plumber seems to be well equipped in the dark arts too, are you not?" Here Ganon grinned, turning and walking back to his table.

"Or maybe a vacuum. Bring out one of them modern things and wreck havoc. You could come and wreck my work here. What I'm doing here. You don't even_ know_ what I'm doing here." He spread out an arm, and the duo's eyes followed the sweeping hand, taking in the dimly lit room, the slightly colourful odours and the unexplainable circular scratches on the floor.

"For all you know, I could be brewing tea," Ganondorf snorted, mockingly pointing to random candles and shapes on the floor. "There's the knob for the temperature, and there's where I keep the tea leaves." He barked another laugh at his own wit. Fox and Luigi remained silent.

"Or since we're all here, why not we decide?" Ganondorf's tone became increasingly bitter, tinged with unknown emotion. In a sarcastic voice, he loudly proclaimed as if he was praying – "O great and mighty quill! Help us –" Here he broke into a string of Hylian as he grabbed a nearby quill pen, twisting it and spinning it forcefully along the emptied table. He spun it with such force that the quill flew off the table, landing somewhere amongst the chalked circle and ended up pointing somewhere between Fox and Luigi.

One of the candles caught the draft of its passing, flickering and becoming incredibly weak. Then, suddenly aware of everyone's silence, they watched as the candle flickered, blinked, and fought for its very existence in the weak draft of wind. Like the lives before it, right before their very eyes, the weak flam was suddenly was extinguished in a small arc of smoke.

The rest of the candlelights jumped in unison, dimming down to an even paler shade of light than before.

Ganondorf drew in a deep breath, fists trembling. The purple glow came to his fists slowly, but with incredible effort he willed it away.

"Ah, so it's you, is it?" Ganondorf forced a laugh. "Or you? What are you going to do now? Confess and cry? Hm, fox? plumber?" He sneered at each of them in turn, spitting out the words. "How do you know it's not him?"

At his words, Fox and Luigi instinctively looked at each other, their eyes locking in an awkward moment. They tore their stares from each other, but nagging doubt still persisted in their minds, shaken up and stirred into action by Ganondorf's words.

The colorful remains of what Ganondorf accidently destroyed twisted their way into the thickening smoke filling the room, adding to the smell of incense already there. Some of the acrid smoke twirled around the remaining candles, creating little illusions, floating on the air, twisting themselves into impossible shapes.

Seeing Luigi make a surprised motion, Ganondorf dismissed them with a wave. "Let them dance, Luigi. None of us have the power now."

Suddenly furious, he lurched across the room, grabbing them both, each in one fist. Holding them up to his face, he breathed to them, his voice tight and indignant. "None of us have the power now!" he yelled, purple flames starting to gather around his fists.

Before either of them could choke out a word, they found themselves on the opposite corridor from Ganondorf's room, the mighty Gerudo having flung both of them clear of his room. Luigi sat up, rubbing his head as plaster from the wall fell on him in bits, while Ganondorf's door slammed shut.

"Friendly fellow," Fox muttered as he picked himself up. Luigi shook his head, then coughed, finding the smell of incense getting to his head. "I-a – I-a need to go lie down," he muttered under his breath, shuffling off to his room. His shadow got longer and longer as he dragged his feet across the corridor and disappeared around the corner.

Fox realized his clothes were slightly sticky, from the nasty incident in the Brawl Room. With a vaguely surprised thought, he realized that he hadn't even changed out of his clothes yet.

Resignedly, he trudged back into the room, planning to at least wash up. As much as he hated the water, he reasoned aloud, it had to be done. Almost mechanically, automatically, he prepared himself for the "I told you so" from Falco, but had to consciously remind himself that those were from times past. As he got into the shower, taking great care to lock the door behind him, the click of the lock suddenly sounded like the mechanical click of a gun.

"Hahh!"

Fox whipped around, paw reaching for his own gun. He found himself staring straight in the mirror, seeing a reflection of a slightly-trembling figure pointing a gun straight back at him.

After some time, Fox stepped out into the corridor, his fur very obviously ruffled and not combed down. He had attempted to, but the comb kept slipping out of his paws or otherwise get stuck in his fur, so in his frustration he threw the comb to the other side of the room.

And it just so fell out of the window, falling a couple of stories all the way down to the Garden floor. Fox watched it disappear over the ledge, grunting in resignation. It didn't matter.

---

As the light in the Mansion began to dwindle, the shadows lengthened. For some reason, Fox found his footsteps leading to the Lounge. It was some strange attraction to the place – almost hypnotic.

Fox stumbled into the room, eyes falling on the stacks of paper Master Hand left piled up in the corner of the room. Finding nothing else to do, Fox wandered over, and taking the first sheaf down from its corner, started to read. The words swam in front of Fox's face, blurring and joining together as Fox read faster and faster, in an attempt to get away from reality.

After hundreds of pages, Fox tore his eyes away from the "G"-invoices: orders for Gooey Bombs, sixteen crates, Giant Cage, one, Gas bills – one big stack, that one – and stumbled to his feet. Too much words, hurting his brain. The fox was more accustomed to action and orders, not so much with administrative paperwork.

Still, something wasn't quite right. But what was it? Fox couldn't quite place a paw on it, and the elusive information tormented his head. Rubbing his paws in his eyes, he quickly strode over to the nearby cupboard with only one goal in mind.

The vulpine was too preoccupied with his thoughts to give even a cursory glance around the room. Fox groggily fumbled his paws on shelves which were too high and out of his reach, paws blindly scrabbling at them in hope of finding the metallic aspirin container.

As his paws closed around the container, he almost relished the numbing sensation the cold metal provided. It was almost a sort of reminder that he was still alive.

_Sober thought of the day_. Fox noted grimly. _More than half of us here are now dead._

Not for the first time since that fateful day, Fox wished for Falco to liven up the conversation with a stale joke or a sharp wisecrack. Or even just to catch sight of the avian once more, feathers and all. Or even anyone else. Somehow everything seemed empty, the very halls seemed to be devoid of anything resembling life.

The silence was deafening.

"Tea?"

Fox yelled, jumped, stubbed his paw, then whipped around, fur a-bristling and fully alert. The aspirin container was simultaneously crushed under Fox's sudden grip, then swept and sent clattering across the kitchen floor. The entire sequence of events only took him a second or two, but it took him much longer to process the scene before him.

Seated not a couple of meters behind him was Luigi, at the old table where they had first convened on what seemed decades ago. Devoid of any other characters, the other chairs remained vacant, some hooked onto the table, some detached and looked as if they were lazily drifting away. For once the big table seemed to be slightly alive, although in a twisted sort of way.

Mentally smacking himself for not even looking into the room where there could be a murderer on the loose, Fox didn't lower his guard. Luigi seemed only slightly perturbed by the fox's reaction, but instead patted the seat next to him, motioning for Fox to come over.

"Tea?" he repeated.

For the first time, Fox took a closer look. Rested on the table was Peach's old teapot, complete with two teacups. Luigi now unhurriedly took one, sipping from it delicately. The vulpine was temporarily stunned by the bizarre scene, but slowly dropped his Blaster, inch by inch by inch.

After a couple of seconds of sipping, Luigi's eyes suddenly fixed themselves on Fox, the plumber still drinking silently from the pink cup.

"It's going to get cold," he added, his voice hollow and odd from the inside of the teacup, mixed with the last remnants of liquid.

_Right_, Fox numbly though. Wordlessly, he slipped himself into the seat opposite Luigi, dropping his paws to his side in a resigned motion. Slowly picking up a pale orange cup on the table, Luigi courteously poured the pilot half a cup of tea, offering the steaming cup to Fox.

Warily, Fox took it in both paws, mumbling his thanks. Eyeing it, he dared not drink, only to look at Luigi over the edge of the cup. Luigi himself topped up his cup with the same pot of tea, then reclining back in his chair and gently sipping, still fixing Fox with his eyes.

He brought the cup to his lips and slurped noisily.

Fox hesitantly sniffed the teacup. It was a strong tea indeed, mixed with a very slight flowery fragrance and nutty flavour. Tasting it a little, he eventually tipped the contents of the cup down his throat as Luigi did the same. It tasted good, and he understood immediately why Falco and Luigi were addicted to it. It was fragrant, almost cleared your mind of worries and relaxation… with just a hint of bitter almonds.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and allowed the bittersweetness of the tea wash over him. For a moment he could forget everything and imagine that all was right with the world. A moment later, however, the illusion was broken.

_Tap tap._

Fox pried open one eye, looking at Luigi. He was tapping something vaguely familiar on the table, wordlessly demanding that Fox pay attention to him. Fox arched an eyebrow, indicating that he was ready to listen, although a paw tensed, ready to snatch his Blaster from his hip holster if so needed.

Luigi fixed Fox with a steady, unblinking gaze, then started to drawl.

"So, tell-a me, McCloud."

Luigi casually flicked the thing he was holding, pointing it straight at Fox's muzzle from across the table. A little too late, Fox's eye caught the glint of metal as Luigi leveled the gun at him. Hold it. A glint of recognition appeared in the fox's eye. Something about that fun looked familiar –

His paw rushed to his Blaster, and groped thin air. He swiftly looked down to see an empty gun sling, plain nothing where his trusted gun once was. Luigi didn't move, allowing him to slowly fix his eyes on the Blaster that Luigi now held in his hand. How ironic. Lapses in concentration might just have done him in after all.

_Just like the dream._

_So this is how it all ends, _thought Fox. The green-hatted plumber continued, his voice a low, menacing drawl that Fox had never heard before. As if Fox had said it out loud, Luigi's glare intensified seeming to pierce straight through the fox.

"So, tell-a me, Mister McCloud."

_Tap. Tap. Tap. _Luigi drummed his fingers on the table, slowly, deliberately, nearly menacingly. With each tap, the room seemed to echo with the sound. With the other hand Luigi slowly raised the gun, until Fox's own weapon was pointed squarely at its owner's skull. Finally Luigi spoke again, his words soft but clear.

"Why did you kill everybody?"


	7. To Your Health

**Hello all.**

**Welcome to the end of the story.**

**Thank you so much to all who read and reviewed! Thank you, Flame-Wiz27, Pikachu127, Stolloss, Shadow Blues, Shadsie, SapphireDrakon, Snowest, lupyne, Carito-fox, Souldin, Twilight Smash, Dusk-N-Dawn and Luna La Pond!**

**I have discovered the worst thing about writing these kind of fics is that I'm unable to clarify issues with readers' comments, until the mystery is actually over. You have had no idea how close or far guesses were, even wilds stabs in the dark from the very first chapter. But now, the truth is out! Murderer and motive... who has gotten the closest?**

**The next upcoming fic will be a collaboration with a great writer lupyne – **_**Smile**_**. More details can be found on both our profiles. At the same time, please do check out lupyne's works, such as the ongoing **_**I Am Lucario**_**.**

**For a last reference, the poll stands as such:**

**Murderer**

_Pikachu_**: **5 votes  
**Fox, Luigi: **4 votes each  
_Falco,_ **Ganondorf**: 2 votes each  
_Link, Peach_: 1 vote each  
_Lucario: _0 votes

**hawk**

---

Fox stared blankly back at Luigi. "What."

The plumber met his gaze, light enough to pretend he was playing poker for keeps, and strict enough to think he was about to kill. Luigi remained expressionless, although Fox's sharp eyes caught a trembling in the hand that held his gun. "Don't play-a head-games with me anymore, McCloud," Luigi spat, leering at the fox.

A small sweat started to break out on Fox's brow. The plumber was serious, and no amount of negotiating was able to get the lethal chunk of metal out of his own muzzle. There was still one last chance –

"Are you insane?" Fox drew in his breath, daring to speak back now. Something didn't quite fit. Why would Luigi accuse him now? He doubted that he'd given the plumber any reason to suspect himself… but what about – "Ganon? I bet you he's the one behind all this! Let's go and –"

Luigi twisted his wrist and shot.

A Blaster shot whizzed by Fox's head. Fox immediately took this as a cue to shut up, leaving the shot to harmlessly fly into the dark corners of the Lounge. A split second later, there was a distinct _bzzt_ sound, and then some crashes as the Blaster hit something somewhere in the distance behind him.

"Don't try-a anything!" Luigi practically yelled, his voice shaking with emotion. The hand holding the gun trembled more violently. Fox twitched, his eyes immediately drawn to the Blaster. Torn between the gun and Luigi's furious face, Fox felt his gaze flickering back and forth between the two.

"But Ganon – " "Ganon's-a dead!" Luigi practically yelled back, his gun-wielding hand violently shaking now. Fox's jaw dropped.

"Ganon's-a dead in his room, stuck to the floor like he stabbed his pretty self," spat Luigi, not calming down at all. The hand grabbing the gun wavered dangerously, the gun twisting and turning in random directions. Fox, although shellshocked at the news, saw his chance. Suddenly diving to the side, he had closed half of the distance between them before Luigi could even protest, then delivered a well-practiced kick from his hindpaws, intending to knock the gun from Luigi's grasp.

No such luck. Luigi instinctively grabbed the gun back, acting more out of pure, heightened reflexes than anything else. Fox's hindpaw met empty air, his eyes widening for a moment before planted his feet down, trying to stay balanced.

"I said _no more games, McCloud!_" Luigi yelled.

A searing pain shot through Fox's hindpaw as the Blaster shot met its mark. He doubled over, stumbling backwards away from Luigi, before collapsing two steps from where he stood. Luigi walked briskly over to him, brandishing the Blaster as if it was a poisonous snake. The vulpine gripped his paw, trying to ease the pain, his ears lying flat on his head. He still managed to glare at Luigi as the man drew closer to him.

"_What_." Fox snarled. Wordlessly, Luigi aimed the Blaster between the fox's eyes.

"It's – _not _– me." Fox drew out every word, emphasizing the _not_. Luigi's eyes glazed over. "Well then, who could-a it be?" He yelled. "It's not-a me! Ganondorf didn't just stab himself, did he now?"

Fox shut up, inching himself slowly back away from the plumber, pushing back with his front paws. Luigi advanced, still aiming the Blaster squarely at its former owner.

"Wait – so wait! Now what?" Fox's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you get Master Hand? Taking justice into your own hands, huh?" Trying to put on an act of bravado, all this did was to make Luigi take another step towards the downed animal.

"Isn't it obvious, McCloud? What did-a Peach die of?" Fox opened his mouth and shut it, unable to think of an answer. Luigi's eyes narrowed. "I'll-a tell you. Poison. Cyanide. From your-a own medicine cabinet."

"You know I never take anything from it," snarled Fox. Luigi nodded. "Precisely. Gave-a you the perfect cover, acting all ignorant of your-a poisons and your-a medications. I didn't fall for it. Neither did Pikachu."

"Pikachu?" Fox breathed. "The mouse and I knew-a something was up," Luigi rubbed his eyes fiercely with his free hand, but then calmed down."That's why we were late for lunch, the day he – you – killed him." The thought shot through Luigi's head, and the plumber resumed his killer glare at Fox, who just gaped.

"We went a-sniffing, the Pokémon and I. He somehow remembered the poison's smell from-a Peach, and we spent a long time tracking it around-a the Mansion. Sniffing, sniffing, like some hired-a mafia thug and-a his dog. Took us days, but eventually we got a match." He shook his hand casually, causing the gun to rattle slightly in his grasp. "Guess-a where?"

"And in case you really like-a to pretend you don't know-a thing… There's something you should-a know about cyanide. Tastes-a like…" Luigi's eyes flickered to the cup Fox just drank out of. "…bitter almonds."

Fox's eyes widened. "You –"

"Got it from your-a own medicine cabinet," shrugged Luigi. "You can-a hardly blame me."

Fox just snarled again. "You – "

"You – you – I… I what?" His voice was mocking, thin, and light. "I'll-a be the judge here," hissed Luigi, drawing himself up to his full height. There was a glint in his eyes and a certain grit in his teeth as he emphasized every syllable. His hand shakily lifted up to face Fox's own face directly, and even though it was shaking, the distance was simply too close for him to miss. Ignoring Fox' protests, Luigi spoke.

"You, Fox McCloud, have been found guilty of –"

_BANG_.

---

Blackness. And then a little warmth. Fox's mind's eye wandered around the blackness. This was weird. Was this how it was supposed to go? He could feel his limbs, even though he couldn't see it – so it was like being trapped in a suffocating blackness that didn't quite feel that suffocating after all. He felt a limp something drop into his arms. His arms? He could feel his paws. Hold it.

Fox opened his eyes a crack, realizing that he had shut them at the last possible moment and had kept them squeezed shut. He very quickly discovered he was still in the land of the living, albeit sprawled across the Lounge floor. The heat and sounds of the real world suddenly came rushing back in a roar, so much so that he had to shut his eyes again to block them out.

When he reopened his eyes again, the realisation that he was still alive hit him. The reason for this was immediately clear.

The Blaster had fallen from Luigi's hand, and now lay behind him. Even more disturbingly so, Luigi himself had fallen face-down onto the floor – or would have, had Fox not been in the way. As a result, the Mario brother had fallen literally into Fox's arms. The fox took quite a while to process it, but very quickly ruled out the possibility that Luigi misfired.

Behind Luigi, and in front of Fox, stood a rather familiar figure. With the ceiling's lights behind it, it was reduced to nothing more than a silhouette, holding a gun which obviously had sent Luigi tumbling forward. The shadow moved slightly, unsure, then dropped the gun and ran to Fox's side.

_What?_

…The first thing that came into his mind was that it was hallucinations, the cruel just-a-dream scenarios; odd colours and patterns swirling before his eyes. But then as the figure walked, a shadow was cast on the floor, there was the soft footfalls against the Lounge's carpet, and the instantly-recognisable flight jacket which rustled in the small wind.

"You – " Falco cocked his head and stared at Fox out of the corner of his eye, not daring to face the vulpine directly. He didn't know whether his Starfox teammate be happy that he's back, or that…

Fox's reaction was firstly of surprise, then opening and closing his jaws like a fish out of water. Hit by the rush of emotions, he couldn't really do anything than to sit down and gape at the friend he thought he had lost.

While Fox's mind was still processing the information, the avian ambled over to him, uncertain, nudging Luigi's body off of his lap. The plumber rolled to one side, a Blaster shot marked on his right back. Nothing else was heard other than the soft sifting of sand somewhere in the room. Falco didn't look at either of them as he held Luigi's body and silently moved it to the side of the table, on the floor.

"So… it was you?"

Falco sighed. "I guess there's no use pretending, eh, Foxie?" He slipped his second Blaster into his hip holster, and sat down next to Fox, his joints cracking. He stretched his wingtips, before setting his head down in his wings. He rocked back and forth, as if trying to rock himself to sleep. Fox just stared at his teammate.

"You know, I was kind of disappointed, Fox…" Falco murmured, looking away. "Was odd that you didn't realize it was me, all the way from the beginning." Fox shut his jaws with a snap, then let it drop open again. "I – what?"

---

_From an old dusty corner of his cupboard, Falco drew it out. He looked at it, up, and down, first with nostalgic remembrance, then disgust, then sorrow. He scrunched up his face in determination, then tucked the old sniper rifle under his arm and slid out of the room, making sure to close the door before he left._

_Oftentimes, he would nip down to the Kitchen for a snack, sometimes with Fox at his heels. But, more often than not, they would have found that Kirby and Yoshi had once again made a sneak attack earlier than they had, and left the Kitchen empty, devoid of anything barely edible. Sometimes Falco would discover a small stool or something missing._

_In any case, this meant that they would then often drag themselves up to the Storeroom for food, complaining about their bad luck and the long trip. After time, however, they had gotten adapt to cracking open crates, digging out some food within some ridiculous treasure chest._

_And the best part was that Kirby and Yoshi didn't know where the Storeroom was. "A good thing too, else we'd be out of anything to eat," Fox commented._

_But this time, Falco dragged himself up with an even heavier heart than ever before. He allowed the sniper rifle's butt to drag along the carpeted floor, before hastily lifting it up, for fear of anyone hearing it. He followed the well-worn route his feet were used to shuffling along, except now he went about his usual route without Fox by his side and a heart weighed down with lead._

_He lifted up the sniper rifle, allowing the butt to rest in the groove of the shoulder. Like an old friend it slid into place, triggering a brief rush of memory from the bird when he last used it, when he was a small thug, way, way before he had joined Star Fox. Times were bad th__en, and assassins made good pay – what wasn't to like?_

_Suddenly he shook his head, trying to force down those memories. Suddenly the rifle seemed infinitely heavier._

_He grudgingly peered through the sight, for the figure he knew he would see through it. At first he saw nothing other than a patch of green grass, but as he shifted the rifle a little a flash of blue came into view. _There you are.

_Falco shuffled into position onto a crate, until Lucario's head lay squarely on the sight's crosshairs._

_As he readied himself, his feathered finger already __on the trigger, he suddenly felt a wave of guilt. Even though he'd used the exact same rifle before for the exact same thing multiple times, this time he had it pointed straight at someone he knew. A fellow Smasher… Someone whom he had lived with for how long now? since the competition started…_

So, this is Falco Lombardi, hm? _He stifled a half-laugh. He remembered when he would be able to simply turn down such offers, or when he thought he would never see his old rifle again. He had thought it beautiful. Beautiful. Pretty. Now it was a lump of metal leering back at him, challenging him, daring him. It felt heavy and bloody in his rapidly-shaking wings._

_He regained control of his senses with a start. He had drifted off, staring into space, while his finger still hovered right above the trigger, one inch away, just one inch away._

_Falco wiped the edge of his face with his sleeve, hastily rearranging the rifle. He blinked, holding the scope close up to his eye. To his horror, the appendages at the back of Lucario's head had already started to drift up._

Emotions,_ Falco thought with a sudden fear, before realizing that that fear was an emotion, too. Was his guilt that strong? No matter what, he had to act now – now – before anything happened –_

Quickly,_ he thought. _It'll all be over soon, I promise. _As if in a dream,_ _his finger pressed down, and a voice in his head kept telling him it'd all be okay._

"_Aaargh!"_

_The shout jolted him wholly back to reality. It was a guttural, hoarse voice he had never heard Lucario use before. Snatching the scope and staring through it, Falco saw that he had missed partially, either because of Lucario's premonition or that his wings were trembling too much._

_Cursing inwardly, the avian flicked the barrel, aiming well at the figure running in a drunken, zigzagged path across the Garden grounds. Now he tried to console himself, telling him that it was to put him out of his misery. Now if only he would stay still!_

_Looking through the scope, he tried to keep the Pokémon in his sights. He fired again, but Lucario just so happened to jump to the side. The result was that the bullet entered Lucario's hip instead of head, toppling the Pokémon over onto the Mansion's marbled steps._

_As Falco muttered to himself, Lucario reached out weakly, trying to crawl back up. The avian reloaded quickly, and aimed squarely at his head. At least now the Pokémon's mobility was limited – scratch that – it was completely zero. Finally, a target he could hit._

_He raised the gun, and his professional side kicked in. _Three shots for a single target? What gives? _He entertained that thought for a moment, before suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of shame._

_Just as the trigger was halfway-pressed, Lucario turned and stared at him. Directly at him. Through the scope he saw Lucario's blood-red eyes staring straight into his, recognition flaring up amidst the dying embers._

_He knew. _

It's –

_Falco wanted to shout _Run_ and _Go_ and _Sorry _all at the same time, but he never did and Lucario would never hear it. All he did hear was a mechanical _click_, and through his scope he saw a cloud of red mist, and what was left of Lucario flipped violently to a side._

---

"Your –

"Yeah, I was kind of surprised you didn't recognize it in the Storeroom," sighed Falco. "After all, you did try to throw my beloved rifle out, first thing when I stepped onto the Great Fox."

Falco strode over to the clock hanging above the Lounge door. Next to it was a odd looking hourglass which Fox immediately remembered seeing, its soft sound of sand oddly comforting. He also remembered the sand jumping, flowing alternatively fast and slow through the thin neck of the hourglass… almost as if it had a life of its own…

The avian picked it up with two fingers, carelessly toying with it, turning it upside down. To Fox's surprise, the sand still flowed upwards, falling up from the bottom half into the top, faster and faster and faster. Falco sighed, flipping it the right side up, and slowly shuffled his way back to the vulpine.

Whatever provided the light in this world had almost set, bathing the two pilots in twilight. In the lengthening shadows, the rustling sound of the sand became louder in the silence, and slightly more sinister.

"Something I don't… understand," murmured Fox. He turned to look at Falco. "Poison? You had poison?"

"It was in our medicine cupboard," admitted Falco. "Something along the lines of death-before-dishonour or something like that. Don't you remember?"

"I didn't see it," argued Fox. Falco sighed.

"You never looked."

_---_

_Peach continued nodding, her head dreamily moving up and down in response to Luigi's constant babble of words, although it was constantly interrupted by her violent coughing spasms._

_Falco, his face increasingly pale, turned to his teammate and roommate. "Don't we have a medicine cabinet?" Fox, too mortified by the situation, nodded absent-mindedly, and then realized what Falco was saying. "I… don't really know where it is," he muttered to himself, then "Go! You go!" he hurriedly urged, the bird nodding and disappearing down the hallway._

_Once out in the hallway, Falco made for their rooms in a hurry. He fumbled at his room door, his feathers somehow not having the strength to open it. Every time he tried the cold handle slipped from his grasp, the icy coldness of it somehow burning his wing. Eventually he forced his wings into position, slamming the door open at long last. Breathing heavily, he stumbled into the dark room, feeling for the small medicinal cabinet he knew was there. Of course it was there._

_He teased open the box, and it swung open with an ominous _creak_. He cast one last glance at the tiny vial in his wing. It was almost empty, but it once contained enough cyanide to poison a person in mere seconds. Colourless liquid that could easily be sprinkled onto an innocent-looking fruit. The Princess must have had the fortune of biting into a particularly concentrated portion – or else, death would have been quite prolonged._

_Everyone didn't really care where Peach got the fruit from, but he did. He'd know – after all the times where Fox stole his share of food – and the chicken – he would often find himself wandering to the Storeroom to get food. But poisoning the source would have been too obvious, too dangerous._

_But it had been so easy to simply poison the one Peach took, placed daintily on the very top of the fruit basket she had prepared the night before. In the ruckus following Lucario's death, half a minute was more than what he needed._

_Falco shook himself out of his train of thought, his vision focusing on his wing. Some remained in the bottom of the vial. He wiped his eyes hastily with the back of his wing, as he threw the almost-empty bottle into the medicine cabinet, shutting it without so much as a backward glance. It clinked against its brother, still mostly full with the liquid._

I'll save that for me_, Falco numbly thought, before running down the hallway back to the Lounge._

---

Fox didn't say anything this time, but merely looked away, lowering his muzzle. Falco blinked, not expecting it.

An awkward moment passed, then it lengthened into a half-minute. Falco agitatedly twisted at the hourglass in his hand, but it still remained sturdy and unbreakable. Eventually, he leaned backwards with a sigh, Fox tiredly flicking his eyes to his teammate.

"So, now you're going to tell me how you stabbed Link, hm?" Fox almost sneered, his voice slow and deliberate. Falco sighed, then shook his head. "Look, I didn't –" "You didn't what?" Fox arched an eyebrow at his teammate, and the avian took as his cue to stop. There was an anger underlying the fox's voice, but even so it was uncertain and tired.

A slight shifting sound caught the attention of both space animals. Falco's eyes immediately flicked to the hourglass he held, before his eyes widened.

The hourglass's sand emptied in a dramatic motion, the thin stem connecting the two halves shattering as the rest of the sand literally forced its way through, as if it couldn't wait anymore. For a moment all was silent except for the soft tinkling of glass and the shifting of sand, and then all was silent.

And then the hourglass crushed itself with a grotesque sound, splintering into silvers of wood and glass, spraying sand as it was smashed by an unseen force. The sand spilled all over Falco's lap, turning from a pale brown into deepening disturbing shades of crimson.

Falco staggered backwards. "I'm out of time…" Groping at Fox, he grabbed his teammate by the arm and started dragging him off. Groggily, Fox stood to his feet, slightly reluctant to follow. "Where – are we –"

"Away from here," Falco's voice was clearly tinged with fear and desperation. Pausing only to grab Fox's cup from the table, he almost ran to the exit, pulling a dazed fox along. Fox only followed, stumbling along because of the confusion that was stirring in his mind, but something happened that caused them both to stop dead in their tracks.

From somewhere not too far off, the voice began.

It was a long, drawn out voice, careless and at once quiet and loud. Something in the voice reminded Fox of nails scraping against metal.

The avian's face blanched, the colour draining out of his feathers. "Come on, we got to go!" He urged Fox, and without waiting for a response, burst them both out of the Lounge and staggered away. Fox tripped over his own feet, nearly falling, but Falco caught him and helped him upright, before quickly pushing him along the corridor.

---

Downstairs, in the Great Hall of the Mansion, it began.

Where was he? There were four boxes lined up in a pretty little row, each large enough to be able to conceal oneself within. Ah, then there is only one way to properly coax people out from their safe and secure hiding places, and that was through safe and meaningful dialogue and reassuring words. Any other way would be impolite, destructive and improper.

Who said it needed to be proper?

Eeny.

There was a resounding explosion, the first box on the left violently exploding and going up in flames. Bits of splintered wood flew all over the already-blackened floor of the Hall, now painted over with a dull coat of crimson, newly splattered on as if from a giant bucket of paint.

Pretty pretty colours!

Mixed with the red, many small tufts of stained blue and yellow fur drifted slowly down like the light spring rain.

---

_It was the dead of the night. Falco dared to step __out from his room, slowly pushing open his door with a creak. He paused, his mind immediately looking around for the hidden murderer. When he finally got a hold of his senses, he silently laughed at the irony._

_Quietly making his way down the corridors, he paused a little to admire the bright moon out of a window. He stopped. The moon was gone. Hidden from sight… and neither were the stars –_

_Slowly shaking his head, he suddenly felt lightheaded. He wasn't on the Great Fox anymore, away from the vast expanses of space and brilliant pinpoints of light. He was here in the Mansion, hidden by the starless night and the cover of darkness. He shook his head once again and continued on his journey._

_Finally, no matter how long he tried to take, trying to delay the inevitable, his footsteps still led him there after all. He laid a feathered wing on the wooden door, then pressed his head against it, trying to hear the breathing within. …rhythmic, continuous, predictable …asleep._

_He pushed open the door, silently. He was alternatively glad and disappointed that Link still didn't understand how the Mansion's lock worked._

_Apparently he had been afraid that if he'd locked his door, he wouldn't be able to get it open without breaking his key._

_No matter what, Falco felt more than just a twinge of regret pass through him as he stepped past the threshold. Fortunately for him, the only one who could have detected it was now resting in a box in the corner of the Mansion. _All because of you. _he thought bitterly._

_He slowly treaded over to the foot of Link's bed, carefully shutting the door. He knew Link to be a formidable warrior, someone who he wasn't sure of winning if it came down to hand-to-hand combat. And furthermore, if any semblance of a fight broke out, it would bring the rest of the Mansion running over in a matter of minutes, and it would all be over –_

_No. He had to play the game till the very end._

_How often he had prized his double Blasters, often slinging one of them on either side of him. And now, he drew his remaining Blaster from its holster, priming it. Link remained ignorant, sleeping almost peacefully. A faint smile grew across his lips, the Hylian murmuring something in his sleep, before rolling over; much to the relief of Falco. The avian let out his breath louder than he would have wished, suddenly realizing he had been holding it for the past few seconds._

Don't worry_, Falco thought, biting his tongue. Images of Lucario flashed before his eyes, before he raised the gun and pointed it straight at the asleep Link's chest. _I promise this won't hurt at all. _Link murmured something, then smiled faintly. Falco looked away._

_No one heard the single shot._

---

"So he _wasn't_ killed by his sword," mused Fox.

"Yeah, well, I was supposed to, but –" "Supposed to? What the – Look here, Lombardi, what do you – "

"Look, stairs," Falco abruptly brushed Fox's words aside, his face paling slightly as he forcefully dragged the vulpine to the stairwell. Fox didn't get a chance to reply as Falco quickly led him upstairs.

"No joke – Faking a fight – Accidentally swiped half the things off his table, too –" Falco muttered in between breaths, climbing stairs two at a time. Fox followed silently, stumbling over a landing and sprawling flat onto the ground with a grunt. His teammate was immediately at his side, slowly helping him up, but Fox brushed aside the wing extended to him and hobbled to his feet.

Falco shrugged slightly, then regripped Fox's arm and restarted running. Now they ran past the Kitchen, and Fox couldn't ignore the door and the still-present burnt odour coming from behind it as they quickly made their way past it.

Behind them, they heard a dull _boom_ sound echoing throughout the Mansion.

---

_It was only a matter of minutes for him to pluck out some of his own feathers, scattering them randomly around the room. It was also very easy to beat one of his Blasters into submission, silently opening it with a screwdriver – just like he did Fox's phone – and then short-circuiting the machinery within. It was also no problem at all to get a couple of chickens and to load them into the oven, setting it on high heat and allowing the gas to slowly leak out._

_Falco took a deep breath. As he slowly stepped backwards, ready to make a run for it, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He paused. It was a bluish image, someone in a flight jacket, treading nervously across the Kitchen floor._

_The mirror beside the oven leered at Falco, taunting him. And reflected in it was a shaken Falco, no longer the brave bird of old but now something not quite recognizable. Falco raised his Blaster towards the ceiling, firing a single shot. He heard it echo across the Mansion, almost in the way he would clear his throat to get everyone's attention._

_The mirror glittered._

_Falco aimed directly at his counterpart, seeing the reflection aim the gun squarely back at him. "It's you," he breathed, his voice not much louder than the rapid countdown ticking of the oven._

_Then, louder, he yelled, "You!" and fired, but didn't stay to watch his counterpart fragment, falling to pieces on the Kitchen floor. Like a crazed man Falco aimed at the sides of the Kitchen, taking out all the glassware with several well-placed shots, even though his Blaster wing was trembling. _If only Lucario had had that privilege, he wouldn't have suffered so –

_He flew out of the door, slamming the door shut behind him._

_Rounding the corner, he reached a little storeroom, set into the wall. Hurriedly – yet silently – twisting the knob open, he let himself into the small room and shut the door behind him, pulling out the light-emitting baton from his flight jacket. He glanced at it for only a second, remembering the last time he had used it: in the darkened Teleportation room, seemingly so distant and so long ago._

_It was a small storeroom, almost like a broom closet. Climbing on some unknown boxes, Falco cracked a hole in the ceiling with the butt of his Blaster. Ripping away at the ceiling proved to be remarkably easier than expected, although Falco noticed his wingtips grew significantly darker under the dim light of the baton. He winced and tried not to listen to the yells and the inevitable explosion from the Kitchen._

_Eventually he made a hole large enough for him to scramble into. Wordlessly, he hoisted himself up, kicking a little, but eventually disappeared into the ceiling._

---

Meeny.

A dented crown clattered loudly on the floor, rolling a couple of rounds before stopping with a metallic clang. Grating metallic noises. Interesting.

---

As the duo quickly hurried down the hallway, there was an ominous _crack_, the ceiling splitting open right in front of them. Fox instinctively stopped dead in his tracks, his mind suddenly conjuring images of Pikachu's last moments. He hastily grabbed Falco, jerking him backwards unceremoniously.

Falco tumbled over backwards, frantically trying to keep the tea from spilling. As he fell, the ceiling caved in, in front of them, dumping debris and plaster in the middle of the corridor, trapping the two Smashers in a dead end.

Unnerved, Falco got up, and pulled his Blaster from its place on his hip. Watching Falco fire at the wall, Fox's jaw dropped as the wall cracked, the edges burning slightly at the Blaster's power. A section of the wall splintered, and Falco took it as his cue to continually pump shot after shot into the wall. Within a couple of seconds, the section of wall simply fell over backwards, crushing an unfortunate piece of furniture on the other side.

_Luigi shrugged. "Seemed like-a Master Hand cut more corners building this thing than-a we thought he did."_

"This way," urged Falco, stepping through the hastily-made hole. Fox followed in a half-daze. Behind them, the explosions continued, a dulling noise, distant but not entirely ignored. Another wall appeared to stand in their way, but Falco raised his Blaster again.

_---_

_BAM._

_Falco cursed silently as he jumped backwards. It was an age-old habit of his, and yet he somehow just couldn't get rid of it, no matter how hard he tried – even when the situation desperately called for it. He would have to learn, some day... how to close doors silently, and not just instinctively slam them shut._

_Behind the door he heard rustling of the bedsheets, knowing he must have woken Fox up._

_He hadn't seen Fox since… then._

_A _patter-patter_ of paws and feet told him he had company. Cursing underneath his breath, Falco made himself scarce as quickly as possible, while still trying to maintain absolute silence. He dodged behind a corridor, then left as quickly as possible without looking behind._

_He made his way to another closet, knowing he would have to make yet another hole in the ceiling in order to get where he was supposed to go. Falco took a deep breath, then closed the closer door behind him, took out his Blaster, and got back to work with a grim determination._

"_Chu."_

_Pikachu pointed his nose to Falco's door, which was now locked from the outside. Luigi scratched his head absent-mindedly, running his fingers underneath his cap. Pikachu looked up at the door he was sniffing at._

"_Maybe it's-a around here," offered Luigi. Pikachu nodded, putting his nose to the ground and continuing to sniff. But not more than five steps away, the mouse walked head-first into Fox's door, the short episode ending with Pikachu sullenly rubbing his head in an almost comical manner._

_Luigi stifled a small chuckle, but his expression quickly grew serious as he ran his fingers across Fox's door. He looked down at Pikachu, who in turn looked back at him. "Don't tell him just yet," Luigi whispered. Pikachu looked back at Fox's door, then nodded._

_They continued searching the Mansion grounds for any other traces of the poison that had been Peach's undoing, but there was no other scent. The only trace of it came from the rooms of the Star Fox crew, and now, McCloud will have to pay the price for what he has done._

First, dinner, _Luigi had told Pikachu._ Then, we'll see what happens next.

_Just as Fox was about to question the Gerudo__ about something or the other, the door slammed open, startling its occupants. Luigi and Pikachu appeared in the doorway, a little scared by the sudden noise they had made. Luigi glanced at Pikachu, nodding knowingly, before walking away, his back towards the rest of the Smashers. "Pika…" the Pokémon nodded in Fox's direction, before slowly making his way to the table._

Don't trust him.

_However, up a__bove them, Falco waited. It was amazing, really, no one ever looked up. Because if they did, they might have just seen a tiny hole, a small peephole Falco had made, just to keep track of going-ons below._

_He ran his feathered hand down the hefty bar next to him. It was suspended, held in place by several thin wires. He knew it to be one of the support beams, helping to hold the ceiling's framework into place, but more than that he didn't know. To be honest, he wasn't even sure he would survive this manoeuvre__, or be dragged down with it._

_Lifting up his Blaster, he saw a small glint of reflection. Years ago, he had begrudgingly admired Wolf's weapons__, the ability to switch into a melee weapon with a long, curved blade attached to his gun. Of course, he never told Fox, but Falco had tinkered with his own Blaster in his own free time. The old switchblade he had was now fitted onto the side of his Blaster._

_Now, it slid out with a soft _shk_. He rested in on the edge of one support line, lightly pressing on it. The large beam swayed slightly in response._

_He screwed his eyes shut and sliced it through._

_Perhaps it was his oversight, or maybe it was a twisted joke – the blade snapped off, although it cut through most of the wire. The beam groaned, the wire left hanging by a mere thread, and the heavy metal bar slid down and hit the top of the ceiling with a _crack_._

_Falco held his breath._

_Then suddenly, as if the force was too much to take, the remaining threads snapped in quick succession. Luckily for him, Falco squeezed himself into as tight a ball as possible, avoiding the metal bar as it crunched through the thin ceiling partition and disappeared from his view. The pilot heard a sickening _snap_, the crash of the crystal fruit bowl shattering, and moments later, low agitated voices of the Smashers and the remarkable absence of Pikachu's cry._

_Falco bowed his head for a few seconds, before hurriedly__ scrambling to one side. In the confusion and the chaos below, no one heard the scrabbling sounds as the falcon quickly crawled, hidden, over their heads._

_---_

Miney.

Ragged pieces of green cloth, once part of a tunic, were thrown into the air, before quietly fluttering down and disappearing into ash. Fiery. Pretty.

---

Fox blinked once or twice, only to suddenly realise he had been moving, running in an unknown direction. He only felt a vague grip on his arm that was Falco, continually pulling him along. The once-alert fox only fully got back to his senses when his shuffling hindpaws slammed straight into a low staircase step, causing him to wince in pain and fall flat on his muzzle.

"Get up, we're nearly there!" urged Falco, a tinge of desperation in his voice. Through the growing haze in his mind, Fox tried to stand up, blearily looking at the unfamiliar set of stairs. "Wha –" was all he got out before Falco quickly – but gently – nudge him up them, all the way to the Rooftop of the Smash Mansion.

As he was holding Fox by the shoulders with both wings at that point in time, Falco kicked the door open, hoping it would work. Fortunately for the falcon, the door swung open outwards, creaking with disuse. The avian dragged his teammate out onto the rooftiles, Fox grateful for the opportunity to finally sit down. Far away, the muffled explosions continued.

He tumbled to the ground, wincing in pain as his knees finally buckled and lost the fight to stand straight. Falco looked at him, concerned, gripping both his shoulders in his wings. Fox blinked, not knowing whether to look at the Smasher or not, finally choosing to stare at a spot in the night sky slightly to Falco's right.

"So, where to now?" Falco shrugged, releasing his grip on the fox. He whirled around, to stare at the night sky. "I don't know. We've gone as high as we could go. I don't think we can go any further."

Fox arched an eyebrow.

"Okay – that's it – enough of this mystery talk." Fox glared at Falco, the avian feeling his eyes burning into his back. Falco turned around, resignedly, to face Fox. Fox continued, still staring at the falcon. "Why?"

---

Mo.

A splintering of wood and dust, but otherwise nothing. Nothing interesting. It was empty. …Unsatisfactory.

_---_

_The door opened with a cr__eak – in fact, it seemed as though all doors would open with a tired, half-ominous whine. Almost immediately, there was a thick purple fume leaking out, almost something you could reach out and touch. Falco nearly coughed out loud, but he held a wing to his beak and sidled in._

_Inside the room were fumes, thick and continuous, and they blocked almost everything in sight. Wading through the nearly-opaque smoke posed a little problem to Falco, but his target loomed ahead in an unmistakable shadow.__ The bird fumbled with the heavy weapon he held. This just felt foreign, it just didn't feel quite right, but he knew what had to be done, and so he went about his business with his old, cold, businesslike demeanour. _

_Ganondorf didn't move at all. Chances are he didn't even hear the avian sneak up behind him, weapon in hand, ready to strike. He was still busy, poring over his precious spellbook__ with a potion in his hand and a shard of glass in the other. The magic circle glowed a little in the dim light, the candles relit, the circle a little more complete than it was three hours ago. _

_Falco steadied himself. One strike. It had to be one strike, or the King would Ganon Punch him in the face and it would be all over. He quickly passed a wing past his forehead and it came away wet with sweat._

Tink._ With a soft grunt of triumph, Ganondorf put down the flask he was holding and absent-mindedly turned around._

_The pilot's reaction was immediate. In one swift action he plunged Link's Master Sword deep into Ganon's body, striking straight in front of him. The Sword buried itself in the Gerudo up to the hilt, fuelled by Falco's fright and adrenalin.__ And in pure reflex and instinct, one wing dropped to the Blaster at his side, flipping it up and firing a single shot into Ganondorf's face at point-blank range._

_All that happened in a second, before Ganondorf could launch any devastating moves – or any moves at all. Completely and utterly caught by surprise, the Gerudo simply just stood there, with a __powerful relic of a sword sheathed through his middle and a Blaster shot in his head._

_Falco hesitantly took his wing off the Sword's hilt, realising it had been gripping the hilt for the past second or two. Just to be sure, he readied his Blaster for another shot, timidly hiding behind the gun, as if it would hide him from Ganondorf's view._

_But it didn't really matter, because the Gerudo simply toppled over to the side. Slowly at first, but surely Ganon lost his balance, crumpling to the floor in front of Falco. The carpet in his room made sure there was no sound as the King's head hit the floor. The Master Sword's tip glittered from his back, having pierced through his armour plates. Falco felt compelled to shoot the body again, _just in case_, but he had already made enough noise as it was._

_He slowly retreated out of the room, making sure to shut the door. But in his state of mind, his wing slipped a little, leaving the door slightly ajar. Falco didn't look back and didn't notice, as he quickly hurried away, leaving the scene of the latest death. But long after the pilot disappeared around the corridor, the door continued to slowly swing inwards, __revealing the once-mighty Gerudo dead in his own room, the magic circle a single stroke from completion. _

---

Ah. This was satisfactory. Just as planned. Stabbed by the sword he had despised.

The hilt of the sword began to glow white hot, hotter and hotter until in one splitting sound, it broke apart into fragments, the large body on the floor convulsing. Wherever the pieces of sword touched, that area immediately burst into flames, quickly spreading to the entire room and beyond.

Just a moment. It was so beautiful. It was red and orange and so so pretty. Just a while more, look at it just a while more, just a while more.

The Lounge fared no better.

There was an explosion that rocked the Mansion, and the Lounge quickly became a burning hall of flame. What was once the Smashers' place for peace and quiet quickly devolved into a blazing inferno. Purple flames mixed with orange, grew big and leaped from wall to wall like Pikachu would have done.

Wooden chairs snapped in the fire, angrily shouting their last words before ceasing to exist. Master Hand's papers, long forgotten, were quickly consumed. The pillars of paper that Fox had left standing stood till the very end, as quickly shortening pillars of flame, but in the end ceasing to exist, leaving nothing. In the corner, a small carcass of a corpse, hidden underneath a heavy metal bar, was quickly devoured by the flames along with the splintered wood surrounding it that could once have been called a table.

And in the middle of it all was a badly burned table, chipped and charred and scarred. And lying some way from this table, in the last safe circle in the fire, was an old and dying Smasher, mistakenly left for dead. The heat and the fire pierced his consciousness, causing him to open one eye, and see the true perpetrator behind all the sorrow and insanity.

"It was-a you," breathed Luigi.

The table fell apart in a blaze of heat and light, the china teapot falling with it and smashing itself across the floor, shattering into a million pieces with an awful scratching sound. The teacup followed its arc onto the ground, dutifully adding more porcelain fragments to the burnt ground. There was a resounding crash as the rest of Peach's fine teaset followed, smashing themselves to powder.

The plumber's green hat drifted to the floor. A small flame quickly leaped onto it, happily licking, quickly growing and reducing the cap to nothing more than ash, and even that blew away and disappeared.

---

"Why?" Fox quietly demanded. Even though his strength was rapidly being sapped away, his voice still carried some undertones of authority. He was seated on the Roof now, the falcon slamming the door leading back to the Mansion shut with an extraordinarily loud _bang_. Fox fixed his teammate with a hardened expression. "Tell me."

Falco laughed, a mirthless, bitter laugh. He took his time, strolling back to Fox with his wings in his pockets, sitting down next to the vulpine. "Ya know, funny you should ask. 'coz, ya see…" – here he solemnly glanced at Fox, who stared back at him – "…you were there when it happened."

Fox slurred something, even though his eyes widened and his ears pricked up in surprise. "Non – non – sense. I was there? Where? When?"

Falco laughed his bitter laugh, not daring to stare Fox in the eye. He clapped his wing on his lap, as if Fox had said the funniest joke in the world, but he wasn't smiling and the tears weren't from laughing. At length, he finally took a deep breath, and turned to face Fox. "Yes. You were there."

"All the way in the beginning."

---

_The nerve of that fox! Throwing up! Over him!_

_Despite the food and fun, t__his celebratory banquet was not turning out really good._

_Falco dragged Fox by the collar, the dead-drunk vulpine being trailed ungracefully behind him, the body giving a soft _thump_ of protest as Falco dragged it down a single step. With Captain Falcon and Ganondorf arguing over who would use the washroom first – never mind that there actually _was_ big enough for the both of them – he had no choice but to drag his friend to the next nearest toilet._

_Which happened to be pretty far away._

_Cursing under his breath and taking another look at his soiled shoes, Falco muttered something incomprehensible and started to push open the door to the men's bathroom. Somewhere between there and the pinnacle of frustration, Falco had resorted to dragging Fox along by a foot. The unconscious vulpine didn't seem to mind, but it did leave his two forepaws flailing awkwardly behind him._

_A _THUMP _came from behind him, the avian exasperatedly flicking his head back to see what trouble Fox had managed to accomplish while lying on his back, dead drunk. To his mild surprise, the fox was still asleep, snoring slightly, his eyes closed in relatively peaceful alcohol-induced slumber._

_Behind him trailed a small, soft, slimy path marking Fox's muzzle and Falco's shuffling shoes. _Whoops_, thought Falco. _Glad I ain't cleaning up.

_A further crash could be heard from a nearby room. Curiosity getting the better of him – as it always did – Falco silently put down Fox's leg, drew his Blaster from its holster, and crept silently to the door._

_It was slightly ajar, the large white-painted door. The thin paint layer was peeling off in small fragments, but Falco paid no attention to it. Wondering which Smasher would be in here at this time, he put his left wing on it, softly pushing it open._

_The first thing he realized was the smoke that assaulted him. It wasn't exactly smoke, but it hung there, thick, menacing, and opaque. As his eyes adjusted to the smoke, he saw what had caused the final crash – a potted plant perched on a precarious sidetable had toppled over, the fine porcelain shattered into bits and the plant lying dying on the carpet._

_Falco's eyes nonchantly flicked up, but then froze._

_Not a very far distance away from the plant was something white. Whiter than the fog, yet somehow less bright. _What was it? _he wondered blankly, not having any actual answer._ _Yet some subconscious part of Falco's brain went into automatic overdrive, yelling at him in fear to run and move and escape. Yet his legs seemed to be rooted into the spot, held there as if by some unknown power._

_Not quite comprehending the situation, Falco peered further into the mist. It was dissipating, slowly but surely, but it sure overstayed its welcome and refused to leave without a fight._

_In Falco's view, the tip of the white thing expanded into a rough sphere. Following which, it grew an extension on the side furthest from him, turning it into a weirdly crooked, bent cylinder. Funnily enough, as his eyes traced the cylinder away from him, similar cylinders started to appear on its right and left – _

_The cylinders curved, undulated, with the impression that it was wrapped rather tightly around something. Further on, a few of them – in fact, all of them – stopped, joined together by a mass of the same whitish colour and texture. Falco's brain continually churned out screams of _Run!_, but another part of Falco's mind had only just started to realize what he was seeing._

_The body of Master Hand lay on the ground, fingers stretched in awkward positions. His fingers had gestured in the general direction of Falco and the door, an evident sign of an attempt to escape, but the joints of the fingers were twisted into impossible angles. And now the fingers had sunk into the soft carpeting of the room, retaining their twisted shape but no longer had the firmness and rigidity of life._

_Master Hand was dead._

_A little crack and a crumble quickly brought Falco back to his senses. Whipping around wildly, he stared into the mist. But the opaque mist rendered his keen sense of sight useless._

_As if he had wished for it, the smoke started to dissipate. Falco quickly cocked his Blaster, ready to shoot, before an odd whooshing sound reached his ears. The smoke seemed to be drawn backwards, racing backwards at incredible speeds, until it turned into a gigantic whirlpool and he was standing at its very edge, looking into the violent eye within._

_The vortex was sucked through a gigantic hole in the wall, into the room adjoining it. The crack and the crumble came from another entity trying to delicately avoid the rubble surrounding the hole, but failing miserably, opting instead to slam his entire body through where there once was wall._

_The whirlpool of smoke seemed to be sucked into his fingertips, the entity lazily twirling around smoke like a cotton candy vendor at a carnival. When it was done, the last of the smoke seemed to disappear into the finger, and the entity suddenly jerked to a side, noticing Falco._

_Crazy Hand laughed._

_Slowly running a finger down the corpse of the right-handed glove, Crazy suddenly twisted himself into a fist, as if relishing the sensation, the hand gradually bending backwards from the wrist, fingers trembling. The index finger twisted, cracking along its joints, and slowly the rest of the long fingers followed, in what was apparently a perverse display of pleasure, all the way until they closed themselves together in a tight fist._

_Falco felt the sweat dripping down his collar, although he tried his best not to show it, still bravely holding his Blaster in front of him. However trained he was, this was finally starting to get to him, the wings holding the Blaster trembling slightly._

_Suddenly snapping back into action, the fist uncurled itself to form a gun, almost like the ones little children teased each other with when they had nothing to do and were bored out of their skulls. This, of course, was infinitely more dangerous – and by the looks of the former Master of the Smash Mansion – infinitely more lethal._

_Crazy Hand let off a full-bodied laugh, the unearthly sound reverberating off the already-damaged walls of the room. From behind the body of Master, Crazy set off a brilliant fireworks show, different coloured bursts of lightning shooting out erratically and explosively from his index finger, illuminating the room in a ghastly display, searing the air with their heat._

_Falco leaped backwards and yelled "Fox!" and flung both of them to a side just as the wall separating them shattered into smithereens and a cloud of smoke with a sound like china breaking._

_Some distance away, Pikachu perked up his ears, but right now Falco was dragging Fox by his hindpaw, not quite caring what obstacles his teammate ran over now. Running back towards the Hall, he thought they'd be safer there –_

_Behind him, the partition collapsed in a cloud of smoke as Crazy Hand threw something through it, mirroring the fatal blow he had delivered to his counterpart. The Hand followed them effortlessly through the hole in the wall, pausing only to pop his knuckles menacingly at the retreating figures._

_All balance was gone, order destroyed. Chaos reigned supreme even in Falco's usually cool mind. He started to pant heavily as he rounded a corner, quickly trying to drag the unconscious fox up the steps. He didn't get up half of them before a dark shadow fell across him, Crazy Hand slowly sauntering around the corridor without a care in the world._

_That day, Master Hand threw a banquet._

_Crazy Hand threw him through a wall._

_---_

"He caught us, of course," Falco admitted, sitting down beside Fox. The vulpine teammate had kept his jaw open in surprise most of the time, only coughing occasionally. Eventually his jaw snapped shut, Fox weakly gaping and opening and shutting his mouth like a fish out of water.

"He said he'd let us go – like a game – only if we –" "– kill everyone else," drawled Fox, wheezing, completing the sentence for his teammate.

Falco tried to shrug, although the sadness was evident in his only visible eye. "He'd even set a time limit, too. Said it'd make the game interesting. So interesting… I couldn't refuse." "Honestly – Falco – I –"

"He was going to destroy Lylat." Fox's voice stopped short at Falco's interruption. Falco didn't look at him, instead opting to look at the night sky. However, as if too ashamed to look at the vulpine, Falco still continued.

"He was going to destroy it. And all the other characters' kingdoms and universes."

Fox stammered, lost for words. "I don't – think he could – actually do – such a –" "Could you really take that risk? Look, if he decided to take down Master Hand, doesn't that prove he's really, really serious about something?" Falco's voice became cold, yet desperate, and at this point he stood up and started pacing the rooftop, head in wings.

"He's Crazy! He's really, really Crazy! In fact, now that I think of it, I don't even know if he'll honour our agreement! 'Honour amongst thieves'… – but he's insane!" Falco spun around, slamming a fist into the wall such that a dull _boom_ sounded.

"Maybe it's all been for nothing…" His wing, groping around in his flight jacket's pocket, closed around something cold.

"Nothing…"

"So that's why you killed off everyone?" Fox murmured. "To keep with his game instructions?" Falco laughed without smiling. "Yeah. Some sort of ironic, funny feeling to each one. Mouse, Peach, sword –"

Falco turned away. Fox struggled, trying to keep his mind active. He knew once he let his mind wander, that was it. There would be no coming back. He squirmed mentally, trying to find something to concentrate his energies on… "Lucario," he breathed. "The Pokémon. Senses guilt or such. First to go."

"Of course," Falco retorted. "Only problem was, that wasn't his game plan. Had to shoot him, take him out quick and fast. He was actually supposed to be the last to go… I don't think I could have kept up with the charades for long. So that's why I was so scared. Of not following Crazy."

"Eventually convinced him it'll be more fun," spat Falco, disgusted. "So we all lived a little bit longer."

"Link, too. Had – to pretend – faked his death to be a sword through the heart." Falco nodded. Fox sat, silent in thought. "What was his – Lucario's – death – supposed to be?"

Falco laughed nervously. "You don't want to know."

As the weak concentration of poison finally began to take effect, Fox's head sunk slowly in between his arms, weakly clawing at Falco's jacket. His breathing started to become more pronounced and in increasingly ragged gasps. "Can't – breathe –" Falco didn't look at him, but stood to the side, bowing his head. He made no motion to stop the vulpine from pawing at the tail of his jacket.

The bright green eyes glazed over, Fox hacking and spluttering. From somewhere distant, his teammate murmured. "You remember that time in the Great Fox? When you started to cough up hairballs?" Fox attempted to laugh, resulting in a horrible, ear-grating cross between a bark and a hack.

"And I called you – on phone – you – had to clean – up after – me," he wheezed, before coughs overtook his voice. Falco smiled a little smile to no one in particular, feeling the wind whip through his feathers, touching his cheeks as if nothing was wrong in the world.

"Only because they ordered me to." Falco rasped, his voice uneven. Fox laughed last, the final sound quickly transforming into a violent whimper. For an instant they were back in the Great Fox, seeing the comforting blackness of space whip by as the ship slowly cruised, and they would sit and chat like old friends. Fox would lazily twirl his phone in his hand, while Falco would make a wisecrack and tell Fox to get better at Arwing-piloting.

"Hold – me –" Fox breathed between coughs, feeling his paw being firmly gripped by trembling wings. He stopped shaking, although his paws continued to tremble. He slowly lowered his muzzle, curling himself up and burying his head in between his paws, still gripping Falco's wings.

"Sorry, Foxy." Falco whispered. Fox whined softly.

They stayed like this for a couple of seconds more, Fox moving shakily to lean on Falco's shoulder. Eventually Fox's ragged breaths calmed down, and then slowly faded away altogether. Falco didn't let go. For the first time in a long time, he felt something sting his eyes, his vision blurring slightly even as he stared towards the emptiness of the sky.

Ever so slowly, he relaxed his grip. Even though his muzzle still was buried in the avian's sleeve, Fox's paw fell like a dream, just like Peach's body – so unreal, so lifeless, simply hanging limply from where it joined Fox's arm, finally hitting the rooftiles with an awful final _thud_. Falco didn't move, still letting Fox's head rest on his shoulder. After a while, Falco shook his shoulder a little, but Fox didn't wake up.

_Wake up, Fox._

If Falco had half-closed his eyes and forgot what had happened in the past couple of days, he could have tricked himself into thinking Fox was sleeping. Carefully, as if not to wake Fox up, he lifted his teammate's head from its resting place, gentling placing it on the floor. Instead of instinctively curling up, however, Fox remained limp, limbs sprawled out in an awkward fashion. Falco nudged him a little, trying to wake him up, trying to get him to stop pretending for once.

_Wake up, Fox!_

Why didn't this feel right? It was what he had been planning for all the while. To save Lylat, yes, yes. That was the ultimate goal. But now, he wasn't sure if the goal even existed. The pillar of support, the only reason for his survival so far, slowly crumbled and fell apart as Falco tried to justify his actions, and finding failure each and every painful time.

From behind them, a small explosion was heard. Even from here he was, Falco noted that there was an eerie glow emitting from the Mansion below him, shining out of the windows and partially illuminating the Garden grounds and the spot where Lucario was murdered, so long ago.

_Louder. Louder._

The gradual explosions, getting louder in volume as they reached the Roof, were preceded by searing blasts of heat. Determinedly, Falco picked up the teacup that he'd saved, containing the final remnants of tea. The last cup in Peach's set – the only one which wasn't lying in twenty-two thousand separate pieces across the Lounge's floor. The tension in the air was awful, and it took the falcon all his strength to stop from just yelling his lungs out. The time had come.

_Wake him with the noise! Wake him up! Wake up!_

Fox remained motionless. The starry sky was blackened, as if the stars had gone into hiding behind the black clouds that drifted lazily by. Once far away, the explosions came ever closer, until Falco could have sworn he was right in the middle of one. Everything now boiled down to this, and suddenly the explosions stopped; leaving behind an eerie, prolonged, absolute silence.

Moments later, there was a polite knock on the door leading to the Roof.

Falco barked a lifeless laugh. "Come in."

The door blasted open, flying off its hinges. It soared in a clean arc, high above Falco's head, flying off the Roof altogether and disappearing. A second or two later, there was a resounding crash as it splintered into fragments in the Garden. Where the door once was, a single entity floated lazily out onto the Roof, casually, as if it was without a care in the world.

_Th_ee_re y_ou_ ar_re_._

The avian ignored him. Crazy Hand didn't. The Hand slowly moved forward, as if it was a step. One step. The Hand stopped. Behind him, there was a _boom_, and a loud blast shattered the silence. Flaming bits of roof and debris of where the door once was rained down upon them, but both of them ignored it as if it was nothing more than a light summer drizzle.

_Do p_la_y s_o_m_emo_rre._

Falco looked at the cup in his wing, which was now a third full with tea. It would have been more if he hadn't spilled half of it during his flight from the Lounge, but there was still tea.

Insanity stepped forward one more step, the area behind him clearing in a blast of compressed air and heat. Falco flinched as the light flooded his eyes, but it was only temporary and the pain subsided slightly. He looked at the cup, if only to make sure that he didn't spill anything.

The voice turned mocking.

_Dr_iin_k_iin_g at a t_im_e _li_ke th_iis_?_

"Yup." Falco glanced at the small vial in his other wing. It was a really small bottle, but it was concentrated and therefore more than enough. He let the bottle go, and it fell, bouncing once on the rooftiles before falling off the Roof altogether. It rang empty.

He raised the teacup, quickly tipping its contents down his throat before Crazy Hand could stop him, completely draining the cup and the now-heavily poisoned tea it contained, relishing the strong taste of bitter almonds. Falco tapped the cup to his head, holding it out to Insanity in a mock salute, a faint smile on playing on his face.

In a split second, he saw everything. His vision blinked out, replaced by a quick series of images. He heard the jangling of Ganondorf's chains, the shot by which Luigi fell to the ground, and Pikachu's loud cry. He smelt the foul stench in the Kitchen; felt Link's blade tremble as he ran it through its master; saw Peach as she hit the ground, Lucario's scarlet eyes widening; and tasted the bittersweet taste of tea.

In front of him, before his very eyes, he saw the Mansion go up in a spectacular searing blast of flame. An explosion ripped half of the Roof open, debris and dust flying everywhere in the crackling fire. Glass shattered, the tinkling sound oddly loud in the otherwise quiet night. Crazy Hand seemed to stare straight through him. The Gardens where the kid Smashers had spent so many memories together caught fire, and started to smoulder and burn in earnest. The far end of the Mansion, where the Storeroom was, began to crumble and fall apart, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the entire Mansion was rubble, not one stone lying atop the other.

There was the faded image of a fox and the blurry picture of laughter, the joking about the turkey and the can of Oran berries that mysteriously rolled towards him. There was the Lounge, where they sat and laughed and talked and all seemed alright with the world, but now was faded and yellowed like a world-weary old-fashioned photograph that shows something really long ago that you simply can't find anymore. And all that suddenly became a mirror that shattered into fragments and the individual glittering pieces were quickly swiftly and totally swallowed up by the darkness.

Falco managed one last word before his mind went completely blank and he keeled over, the teacup gently slipping from his grip. He didn't hear it shatter as it hit the roof. His feet tripped over the edge of the Roof and he fell the long distance, all the way to the floor of the burning Gardens.

"Cheers."

---

**I promise**** I won't make a habit of these endnotes, but just a few things to clear up. ****Bitter almond is the signature taste of cyanide – as several reviewers have pointed out. The taste that Fox detects is cyanide, placed in his cup only, beforehand; so he gets poisoned while Luigi doesn't – the poison's in the cup, not the pot of tea.**

**No one got the correct answer, but ****the winner is… Souldin!**

**To be honest I was kind of disappointed when Souldin's review for the fifth chapter came out****, almost spot on. But even though lupyne had almost hit it, Souldin was the first to come closest. So congratulations, Souldin! You get a virtual cookie. And no, it's not poisoned.**

**lupyne guessed at the second half of the answer by guessing that the Hands would figure in it somehow****, all the way from the first chapter, and that one/both would turn up dead. So, in a way, both of them guessed at two totally different yet equally important aspects of the same mystery.**

**The character list at the end of most chapters is still accurate. If you wish to check, way back in the first chapter, you will not that I never explicitly said the italicised characters were dead.**

**Next up is a collaboration of a fic, _Smile_, between the great writer lupyne and myself. Do check out his works such as _I Am Lucario_ and other older fics! Please do stay tuned for more details.**

**Thank you all once again for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed the ride. Here's your hat and your coat and your cane, and mind the steps on the way out. Thanks, and I sincerely hope to see you again.**

**End**


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